The Return of the Triwizard Tournament
by PigfartsIsYummie
Summary: Rose Weasley, along with her friends Yasmin, Albus, Lorcan and Lysander, are starting their sixth year at Hogwarts. But the announcement at the Welcoming Feast makes it quite clear that this year is going to be different...
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Rose Weasley woke up on the first Friday of June with a throbbing headache. She felt for her reading glasses and put them on. Today she had her History of Magic exam, which was the last of her OWLs.

She got ready quickly and raced down the stairs with a textbook in her hands, her best friend Yasmin sleepily sauntering down behind her. They met Albus and Lorcan in the common room and then walked out of the portrait hole and made their way down to the Great Hall, where they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Rose was too nervous to eat. Instead, she propped the textbook against her glass of pumpkin juice and read through chapter sixteen (_The Wizards' response to the Goblin Rebellions in the Fourteenth Century_) for the twelfth time that week. After breakfast, she followed the rest of the fifth-years to the chamber off the side of the Great Hall.

She was still mumbling important names and dates to herself when they were called back into the Hall, which now had many small tables all set in rows instead of the usual house tables. She took a seat at her usual table behind Jenny Wang of Ravenclaw.

'I will now hand out the papers,' announced an aged examiner with candyfloss-like tufts of white hair sticking out from both sides of his head from the front of the Hall. He raised his wand and pointed it at a mound of papers on the five-legged table next to him. The papers divided themselves into smaller stacks and glided down the spaces between the rows of tables, handing themselves out to the fifth-years. Anti-cheating quills were handed out next.

'The last exam of this year's OWLs will begin,' said the examiner, looking down at his watch, 'now.'

Rose scribbled her name on the front of the exam paper, and turned the page.

_Question One_, she read. _Who led the goblin rebellions in the eighteenth century? Give reasons why both a goblin and a wizard would a) support the rebels or b) be against the rebels. _

Rose sighed in relief. If the questions were this easy, then maybe she could just scrape an O. She bent over and wrote the answer in her neatest writing.

'Yes! They're over,' sighed Lorcan, stretching his legs out across the sun-dried grass.

'Finally,' agreed Albus, walking towards Lorcan to join him and relax under the warm sun.

Now that the OWLs were finally over, nearly all of the weary students were outside on the grass near the lake, enjoying a bit of well-earned freedom. While most fifth-years had just lain down on the grass or sat themselves against a tree, the Ravenclaw boys had gone a bit further and dived into the lake.

Rose peeked over the top of the new edition of _Which Broomstick?_ and smiled; Jenny Wang was laughing as the Giant Squid swallowed the rolled up parchment that she had thrown at Tom Corner's head. Shaking her head with a smile, Rose returned to her magazine.

'I completely failed History of Magic,' fretted Lysander, running a hand through his wavy hair as he always did when he was worried or stressed. 'It was impossible. I mean, seriously, how on earth am I supposed to know who Eargit the Ugly was?'

'He's a goblin, duh,' said Yasmin, rolling her eyes.

'Well obviously,' said Lysander impatiently. 'But I mean, what was he known for?'

'He was the goblin representative to the Wizard's Council in the fourteenth century,' piped Rose, looking up from her magazine.

'Damn! I wish I rem–' Lysander began, but was interrupted by Yasmin's laughter.

'Honestly Sandy, you worry too much,' she said, reaching a hand out to ruffle his hair. 'I mean, who cares? It's just History of Magic.'

'Would you stop calling me that? It's getting annoying,' snapped Lysander, hitting her arm away.

'How about Lice?' asked Rose, smirking at her sandy-haired friend.

'Not better,' Lysander said, but a small smile had begun to tug at his lips. 'And seriously,' he rounded on Yasmin, 'I don't understand why you're so relaxed about the exams. You hardly revised; you just did loads of Quidditch practise. And still lost to us in the final, might I add.'

'Oh don't get her started about Quidditch!' said Albus from where he was lying. 'She won't shut up about the Euro if she starts talking about it.'

'Yeah,' agreed Lorcan, somehow managing to yawn at the same time. 'We deserve some peace and quiet. I haven't been able to relax like this for weeks! Just use a Silencing Charm on her or something if she opens her mouth.'

'I have a name, you know,' said Yasmin, faking a sniff.

Rose tuned the rest of her friends' conversation out and tried to focus on the page about the new Nimbus Velocity 3000, but just at that moment, she saw a group of popular Slytherins joining the Ravenclaws by the lake. Pushing her glasses further up her nose, she watched Jeff Hudson and Greg Smith kick their shoes off and wade into the lake. Josh Tate, she noticed, chose to stay on the bank with the girls.

Rose looked back down at the page she was reading.

_The Nimbus Velocity 3000 will be on sale in most Quidditch supply stores from the beginning of July._

Rose felt a stab of annoyance when she saw Holly Parker, the Slytherin bully, casually throw her arm around Josh.

_It has an acceleration of 0-80mph in 4.3 seconds, breaking the record of the Swiftbrush e250 by 0.6 seconds._

A short moment later, Josh stood up, said something in Parker's ear then swung his bag onto his shoulder.

_The Japanese National Quidditch Team have ordered seven Nimbus Velocity 3000s. It looks like Japan will definitely be taking place in the World Cup of 2024 in India._

He started to walk away from the Ravenclaws and Slytherins and towards the Hufflepuffs near the trees.

_It has reached our ears that the Indian Ministry of Magic is planning on building a brand new stadium, with new additions '_that have never been seen nor heard of before'_._

When Rose next looked up, she was surprised to see Josh looking directly at her. Once they had made eye contact, he changed course and made a beeline towards her and her friends instead. She couldn't believe her eyes; though she was respected and generally well-liked, she was probably the least popular of all her cousins apart from Molly (and she preferred that to being friends with the bullies who were somehow well-liked, or so she always liked to think to herself) and Josh Tate was the boy of every girl in fifth year's dreams. She wouldn't really describe their relationship as anything more than just classmates, so why did he want to talk to her now, out of class?

Rose felt her cheeks growing warmer. She put the magazine back into her bag just as Josh arrived and sat down next to her.

'Hey guys,' he said, relieving his shoulder of his bag.

Yasmin stopped her argument with Lysander mid-sentence ('At least I actually _have_ a life Sandy, unlike–') and turned her head to say hello back to Josh. Albus, Lorcan and Lysander merely grunted their greetings.

'So how do you think you did in that last paper?' Josh asked.

'Umm, I suppose I did ok,' said Rose in a small voice. 'Better than Sandy anyway.'

Lysander slapped Rose around the head with his bag, much to Josh's amusement.

'Ouch!' she said, massaging her temple. 'How many books have you got in there?'

'Quite a few,' Lysander said wryly. He turned back to resume his argument with Yasmin.

'I take it Scamander didn't do too well, then,' Josh whispered, smirking, so that only Rose could hear.

'He probably got an Outstanding,' said Rose. 'He always pretends that he didn't do well.'

'Well, I think I passed,' said Josh. 'Anyway, guess what?'

'What?'

'Jenny Wang told me that Jo Carter and Nate Jordan just broke up.'

Rose felt Yasmin's eyes on the two of them, obviously listening to their conversation.

'Really? When?' Rose asked.

'Dunno. Sometime during the exam period. Anyway, what are you doing in the holidays?'

'I'm stuck at home with my crazy brother,' Rose sighed, wondering why he even cared.

'Shame. I'm going to Spain to watch the whole of the Quidditch European Cup.'

'Lucky!' said Rose. 'Everyone apart from me is going somewhere interesting this year. Yasmin's going to watch the Euro as well. The Scamanders are going to Lithuania to find some kind of animal that I've never heard of before. The Potters are going to Cyprus. And I'm staying in Godric's Hollow for 2 months!'

_Wow! _she thought, _that's probably the most I've ever said in front of him._

'Whoa, calm down,' said Josh, smiling. 'You can always just Floo to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or something when you get bored.'

'True,' said Rose. 'In fact, I'll probably do that every day until I go to the Burrow.'

'Do you go there just for the last two weeks?' Josh asked.

'Yeah. I love going to the Burrow. It's always busy and full of interesting people.'

'Right,' said Josh, getting up. 'Well, I think I'll be going now. I need to send a letter. Bye.'

'See you!' Rose called after him, with a small smile on her face.

Yasmin looked at her inquisitively. Rose shrugged in reply.

She didn't even know what was going on herself.

The rest of June passed in a haze of sunshine. When the day of the Leaving Feast finally came, Rose was ready to leave Hogwarts and return to her home in Godric's Hollow.

What she had to Josh was a lie; she loved spending the holidays with her brother, though she would never tell him that. She would just read all morning in the garden while he played on his Muggle games console, then after a very late lunch, they would stroll along the streets of Godric's Hollow, hanging out with the Muggle teenagers who lived there. Hugo had such a fun and playful personality that contrasted so much with her serious and studious one that they got along together extremely well. So it was true – opposites did attract. And when her parents got home from work, they would spend some quality family time together; something that Rose greatly missed when she was at Hogwarts.

Stomach rumbling, she ran down the last staircase, entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table between Albus and Lorcan, who were both complaining about their hunger. They fell silent when the headmaster stood up on top of his chair. He was so tiny that this didn't make much of a difference, but the chatter in the hall ceased nonetheless.

'And so we have come to the end of another interesting year at Hogwarts,' he said in his squeaky voice. 'To our seventh-years: I hope you've enjoyed your seven years of magical education and I wish you all good luck in your futures after school.

'And to everybody else: I look forward to seeing you again next year, fresh and ready to learn.

'That will be all. Let the feast begin!'

And with a flick of the wand, the plates on the four house tables and the High Table were filled with food. Rose watched Lorcan piling potatoes, chicken, carrots, peas, and then even more chicken onto his plate.

'How on earth are you going to eat all of that?' Rose asked him, once again wondering how he could eat so much without gaining weight.

'Sixth year better be good,' said Lorcan, choosing to completely ignore her.

'Ew, don't talk with food in your mouth.'

'It should be,' said Albus, purposefully spraying pieces of potato on Rose's arm. 'We get free periods don't we? And we don't have to mess up our sleeping patterns for Astronomy.'

'You two are disgusting,' said Rose, wiping the potato off her arm with a tissue that was floating in mid-air. She turned to talk to Yasmin opposite her, but Yasmin seemed to be too immersed in her conversation with Nate Jordan to hear her. Looking around the hall, she caught the eye of Lysander, who was sitting next to Tom Corner at the Ravenclaw table. Understanding the situation, he gave her a sympathetic smile.

'And you won't have to do Divination anymore, will you?' Albus asked Rose.

'Yeah,' she replied, breaking the eye contact. 'No more sitting in that stupid stuffy room with Trelawney telling everyone that they're going to die in a horrible accident every week or so.'

'I don't see why you chose it anyway,' said Albus. 'Didn't both of your parents tell you that it was rubbish?'

'Yes, they did.'

'So... why–'

'That's why I picked it.'

'Because you were told not to?'

Rose nodded.

'Rebel,' smirked Albus.

'No... It's just I have this thing where I do things that people tell me not to do. It makes me curious when I'm told that I shouldn't do it.'

'Whatever,' said Albus, and turned back to his half empty plate.

The rest of the feast passed quickly, and all too soon, it was morning, and Rose and her friends were going down towards Hogsmeade station in a horseless carriage. Being one of the first to get on the train, they found a compartment to themselves fairly easily and settled down. The train ride went swiftly as well, and they were in London before the sky had even started losing its light. Dragging her trunk behind her, Rose stepped off the scarlet train with Yasmin at her heel.

'You will write won't you?' asked Rose. Hopefully, Yasmin would remember her best friend amidst all the excitement of the Quidditch matches.

'Sure,' replied Yasmin. 'Well, if I can remember,' she added.

'Well thanks for being _such_ a great friend,' said Rose sarcastically.

'Sorry. Ok, I promise I'll write.'

'So you're definitely not coming to the Burrow for the last two weeks?'

'Naa, I'll be busy, sorry. Anyway, this way, you'll miss me more,' said Yasmin, pulling Rose into a hug.

'Bitch,' said Rose, but she still smiled as she hugged her back.

'Anyway, I can see my mum there... bye!'

'Bye,' Rose said, watching Yasmin heave her trunk to where her mother stood attracting the looks of many of the people on the platform. Even though many years had passed since she had left the team, Gwenog Jones of the Holyhead Harpies was still a very well-known woman.

'Oi ginger,' said a voice behind Rose.

She turned around to see Lysander standing in his favourite blue hoodie with his arms outstretched. Rose threw herself into them.

'See you at the Burrow,' she said in a thick voice. As she let go of him, she felt a hand ruffle her hair. Turning around, she saw Lorcan with his hand on his hip, smirking at her.

'Aw, don't I get a hug?' he asked in a teasing tone.

Rose laughed as she hugged him. Then, reaching her hand out, she pulled his hood down and ruffled his hair in return. 'Have fun in Lithuania trying to find... erm... what were you trying to find again?'

'Some different species of the Snorcack,' said Lorcan, pulling his hood back up and sweeping his dirty-blond hair out of his eyes. 'I think it was the hornless type.'

'Do they even exist?' Rose queried. Though she loved her a lot, Rose thought Aunt Luna could be quite crazy sometimes. She and her husband Rolf were a perfect couple; both were interested in strange plants and animals, both were slightly strange yet incredibly bright, and they both were very imaginative.

'Dunno. Well, we'll find out soon though, won't we?'

Rose stayed talking with Lorcan and Lysander for a few more moments, and only parted with them when Hugo came up to her and told her that he was hungry and wanted to go home.

'Where's Al?' she asked.

'He's gone home. Said he was hungry.'

'Well we'll see them before they go though, won't we?'

'Yes, now come on! I want to go home.'

Rose said goodbye to the twins and followed her younger brother to the spot where her parents stood. Her mother looked tired; there were bags around her eyes and the wrinkles that usually appeared only when her brow was furrowed were becoming a more permanent feature of her face.

'Hi Mum,' she Rose, putting her trunk down next to Hugo's.

'Rose!' said Hermione, eyes brimming with tears as she pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. 'You've grown!'

'Erm, yeah, I suppose,' Rose muttered.

'Er, Hermione... you're going to break her ribs,' said Ron.

'Oh don't be silly, Ron,' said Hermione, but she let go of her daughter all the same.

'Hey Dad,' Rose said, hugging her father, who didn't look as though he had aged at all since she had last seen him.

'How's your year been?' asked Ron.

'Good,' said Rose. 'I'll tell you more at dinner.'

'Yes, ok, have you finally sorted all your child-and-parent-ey crap out now?' asked Hugo irritably.

Rose and her parents frowned at him.

'What?' he defended himself. 'I want to go home. I'm _hungry._'


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the review! :)

**Note:** I own the plot and the characters that you don't recognise. Apart from that... well yeah, it belongs to JK Rowling.

This is my first fan fiction. I just want to say now that the first few chapters of this story will probably bore you, sorry.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please review.

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><p>CHAPTER TWO<p>

'Ow! It bit me!' shrieked Rose, much to the amusement of her annoying cousins, Fred and James.

The now-seventh-years were leaning against the outside wall of the Burrow, watching her, Albus and Lily de-gnome the garden. Hugo, who had been "sick" on the morning of the de-gnoming was still in bed, having been spared of all chores until after lunch.

'Why are you two just standing there? I thought you were supposed to clean the shed or something?' Lily asked. She looked thoroughly irritated, and was beginning to develop sunburn in her neck, where she had forgotten to apply sun cream.

'I think you're forgetting that we're not underage anymore,' said James, wearing his most annoying lopsided grin.

'That's not fair!' said Rose, Albus and Lily angrily.

'Life's not fair, m'dears,' chuckled Fred.

'Why can't you help us?' asked Lily.

'Yeah,' agreed Albus. 'Just a simple Banishing Charm.'

'Why should we?' said James.

'Because I'm your brother!' retorted Albus.

'Which is exactly why I won't be helping you,' said James. 'Fred?'

Fred grunted. 'Let them suffer a bit.'

'Yeah,' said Dominique, who had just walked out of the kitchen and joined Fred and James. 'Think about all those poor Muggles who have to household chores without magic. If they can do it, then so can you.'

'Muggles don't de-gnome their gardens though, do they?' said Rose.

'Who cares?' said James. Then turning to Dom, he added: 'Me and Fred are going down to the village. Are you coming?'

'Yes,' said Dom. 'It'll be good to get away from the Burrow for a while. Mum and Gran are starting to get on my nerves. And anyway, I've finished washing the dishes – with magic of course.' She said the last part purely for the sake of aggravating her younger cousins even more.

'Anyway, come on. Let's go before Gran gives us anymore chores.'

'Piss off,' said Albus.

The three seventeen-year-olds chortled loudly as they walked over the fence and Disapparated with a loud crack.

'Come on,' said Lily, sweeping her hair out of her eyes. 'Let's go sit in the shade for a bit.'

Rose, Albus and Lily walked across the garden and sat underneath a tree near the fence, and relaxed.

'So you still don't know what you want to be when you leave Hogwarts?' Albus asked Rose.

'No. I have no idea,' she replied, absent-mindedly pulling yellow grass out of the hard, sun-baked soil.

'What subjects are you taking next year?' asked Lily.

'Charms, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies,' Rose replied, counting each subject off with her fingers.

'_Muggle Studies?_' Albus repeated incredulously. 'Why on earth do you want to do that? Your grandparents are Muggles anyway. What's the point?'

Rose shrugged. 'It's an easy NEWT, and it's quite fun actually.'

Albus shook his head in disbelief.

'But that's seven subjects,' said Lily. 'Isn't that a lot? How are you going to keep up with all?'

'Well I'm clever, so I suppose I'll manage.'

Lily snorted.

The blinding sun was very high up in the clear blue sky when Grandma Molly called Rose, Albus and Lily inside for lunch. The Burrow was much bigger than it had been a few years ago; Rose remembered how she used to share Aunt Ginny's old room with two of her other cousins before her grandfather had decided to build an extension to the main building.

Grandpa Arthur, with his fascination for Muggles, had built the entire four-storey high extension on his own, the Muggle way. It had taken a long time, but his efforts were worthwhile. The Extension was probably the most secure part of the Burrow as it was standing because of bricks and cement, and not just magic.

The summer had been quite fun for Rose. Every week or so, she had gone to Diagon Alley with Hugo, and had come across many of her friends.

Yasmin stayed true to her word and wrote to Rose at least twice a week. Albus wrote once over the three weeks that he was away. Lysander wrote once to say that they had begun their research, and once two weeks later informing Rose that the hornless type of Snorcack didn't exist after all. Lorcan didn't write at all – typical.

After lunch, it began to rain. Rose hadn't a clue where the clouds had come from, but ran outside with the rest of her family to play Quidditch in the refreshing rain. Though she wasn't on the team at Hogwarts, she loved the sport and made a very skilful Chaser.

After dinner and a bath, Rose went straight to bed. Even though it was only eight, she fell asleep minutes after resting her head on her pillow.

When Rose went downstairs the next morning, she saw the Scamander twins' parents sitting in the living room with hers and Albus's parents.

'Hi Aunt Luna, Uncle Rolf,' Rose called from the doorway. She wasn't related to Mr and Mrs Scamander, but loved and treated them like a part of the family anyway.

'Oh, hello Rose,' said Aunt Luna, smiling at Rose. Her eyes were very wide and like always, she had the image of looking faintly surprised. 'The twins were going to wake you up by throwing one of those Sneezebombs at your face, but I persuaded them not to.'

'Thanks,' said Rose, grinning. The Snotty Sneezebomb was a new invention from Weasley's Wizards Wheezes. It contained a mixture of house-elf snot and a strange substance which made anyone who breathed it in sneeze uncontrollably for at least fifteen minutes.

'You've grown,' said Uncle Rolf. 'You keep getting prettier.' He winked at her.

She laughed. 'Er, thanks,' she said, flashing him a grin.

Rose would have said something else, but she felt a pair of hands on her waist, pulling her back into the dark corridor. Then one of the hands left her waist to mess her ponytail up. She heard laughter from the living room.

'Wha–' Rose began, but she stopped when she saw the bright blue eyes looking at her from the tousled dirty-blond hair. 'Lorcan?'

Lorcan laughed. 'Come on, have some breakfast before Al finishes it all.'

'That greedy goblin,' sighed Rose, following Lorcan along the uneven floor to the warm kitchen, where Albus and Lysander were sitting at the long table.

'Excuse me?' said Albus, looking up from his plate, which was piled high with tomatoes, eggs, sausages and toast.

'Nothing,' muttered Rose. Then, after taking a glance at the table, she frowned; the only food in the kitchen was in front of Albus. She took the empty seat next to him and started eating out of his plate. 'Hi Lysander,' she added to Lorcan's sandy-haired twin.

Ignoring Albus's protests, Rose leaned across the table and took a sip from his tea. When Lysander didn't reply, she looked at him and saw that he was staring out of the window with a look of horror painted on his face.

Rose turned her head to look out of the window too and felt her jaw drop; four shapes were blocking out the morning sun, getting bigger by the second. Her heart started thudding quicker.

'Oh no!' she cried. 'I thought we were getting our results tomorrow?'

'Apparently not,' said Lysander. 'Someone open the window.'

Rose ran to open the window (almost tripping over a stray slipper on the way), and just in time too; four screech owls flew through it a couple of seconds later and landed on the table, knocking a few empty mugs over. She walked back to the table, found the envelope that was addressed to her, freed it from the string tying it to the owl and ripped it open with shaking hands.

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)_

_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Acceptable (A)_

_Fail Grades: Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

_ROSE WEASLEY HAS ACHIEVED_

_Arithmancy - O_

_Astronomy - O _

_Care of Magical Creatures - O_

_Charms - O_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts - O_

_Divination - A_

_Herbology - O_

_History of Magic - O_

_Muggle Studies - O_

_Potions - E_

_Transfiguration - O_

Rose couldn't believe how good her grades were. She had even passed in Divination, her worst subject, where she had guessed most of the answers in both the theory and the practical exams.

'How many OWLs have you guys got?' she asked the other three. 'I've got eleven.'

'You haven't failed in anything then,' stated Albus. 'I've got nine.'

'Eight,' said Lorcan, just as the owls ruffled their wings and took off through the open window.

'But you took nine subjects last year,' said Albus.

'Yeah, I know,' said Lorcan. 'I got a "troll" in Astronomy.'

'That's only because you slept through the entire exam,' laughed Rose, remembering that particular night on top of the chilly Astronomy Tower.

'You should have woken me up,' said Lorcan, feigning a sniff.

'We tried,' said Albus, 'but you just told us to piss off–'

'–And you went back to sleep,' finished Rose. 'It was quite funny, actually.'

'Oh, shut up,' said Lorcan. 'Hey Lysander, how did you do?'

Lysander made to stuff his results into his jeans pocket, but his brother was too quick for him, and snatched the parchment out of his hands.

'Bloody Bogrod!' Lorcan exclaimed. 'Only one "Exceeds Expectations" in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the rest are all "Outstanding".'

'So you got an "O" in History of Magic?' Rose rounded on Lysander.

'Er, yes,' mumbled Lysander, smiling at the floor.

'Hey wait!' said Albus. 'There's something else in this envelope.'

Rose looked inside her envelope and saw that her cousin was right. She pulled out the second piece of parchment and read out loud:

' "_Sixth-years at Hogwarts will require the following for the new school year:_

A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six_ by Miranda Goshawk_

Advanced Defensive Magic_ by Edgar Moffatt _

Advanced Potion Making _by Libatius Borage_

_A set of dress robes (formal wear)_

_I look forward to seeing you in the new school year,_

_Professor Bedloe_

_Deputy Headmaster_" '

'Why do we need dress robes?' asked Lysander.

'That's what I was thinking,' said Lorcan.

'Have we got a dance or something?' said Albus. 'Or is it for more professional careers interviews?'

'I have a bad feeling about this,' said Rose. The boys gave her a funny look.

'Why?' they all asked.

'Well... don't you think everyone is trying to hide something from us? I mean, Dad was talking about that guy from the Education Office at the Ministry, but then Mum gave him a look as if to say _shut up_ or something. And then there was that interview about that Ludo Bagman guy in _Which Broomstick?_ that Aunt Ginny tried to hide from us... what does it all mean?'

'How the hell are we supposed to know?'

Rose just shook her head, deep in thought. Just then, a grey fluffy object flew through the window and crashed into the side of Rose's head. She yelped in both shock and pain. She reached her hand and disentangled the object from her hair. 'Oh, it's Carrie!' she said when she finally looked at the small owl sitting in her hand properly.

'What's Yasmin say?' asked Lysander.

' "_Dear Rose, Albus, and if they're there, Lorcan and Lysander,_" ' read Rose after she had taken the letter out of the envelope. ' "_How has your time at the Burrow been so far? We've only just got back from Spain really early this morning. I was wondering if we can meet up in Diagon Alley before school starts. How about the last day of August? That's probably the only day that I'll be free._

' "_See you then. Lots of love, Yasmin._

' "_P.S. My mum promised to buy me a Nimbus Velocity 3000 for my birthday! I'm so happy! Gryffindor will definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year." _

'That girl will never just shut up about Quidditch, will she?'

'No, but seriously,' said Lysander animatedly. 'A Nimbus Velocity? _3000? _That's mental! The only other people with those are the Japanese International Quidditch Team. Gryffindor probably _will_ win this year.'

'Well you won last year,' said Lorcan, 'so I suppose it's our turn now.'

Rose sighed. She loved Quidditch, but it couldget extremely boring when her friends talked about nothing but it.

'Are we free to go to Diagon Alley with Yasmin on the last day of the holidays?' Rose asked loudly, interrupting the "Quidditch Talk".

The boys grunted in reply and continued their boring conversation.

The rest of the day went by very quickly. After spending the morning cleaning the kitchen, the afternoon shopping for some Muggle clothes from the village shops with her cousins Lucy and Roxanne, and the evening conversing with her family in the living room (Grandma Molly and Rose's mother baked a large cake in celebration of the OWLs results), Rose went to the bedroom that she shared with Lily in The Extension feeling exhausted.

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><p>Scorpius will be introduced in a few chapters, in case you were wondering...<p>

Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for reviewing :) Sorry for not updating, I was a bit busy over the past few weeks :/

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><p>CHAPTER THREE<p>

The end of the summer holidays had arrived all too quickly. On the morning of the last day, Rose, Albus, Lorcan and Lysander were to be found standing by the fireplace in the kitchen.

'I'll go first,' said Rose. Then, she scooped a handful of Floo powder from the jar on the mantle and threw it into the flames, which instantly turned emerald green. She ducked her head as she walked into the fire, and said clearly, 'Leaky Cauldron!'

Rose closed her eyes and felt herself spinning uncontrollably on the spot. Without warning, her feet slammed hard into what felt like concrete. Opening her eyes, Rose was greeted by the familiar sight of the dark pub. Even at the age of sixteen, Rose still couldn't travel by Floo powder without falling out of the fireplace or hitting her head against something.

'Hello Rose, dear. Can I get you something?' said a voice. Rose stood up to face the landlady, Hannah Longbottom.

'No, that's ok, Mrs Longbottom,' said Rose. 'We're just passing through today. Good to see you though.'

'Good to see you too,' said the landlady, smiling. 'You haven't dropped by for weeks.'

There was a cough from behind Rose.

'Hi, Mrs Longbottom,' Albus, Lorcan and Lysander said in unison.

'Hello dears. I haven't seen you lot since last Christmas! You've all grown!'

'Um, thanks,' said Albus.

'Hi!' said a high-pitched voice. It was Sophia, the daughter of the Leaky Cauldron landlady and the Hogwarts Herbology professor.

'Hey Sophia,' said Rose. 'You're starting Hogwarts this year, aren't you?'

Sophia nodded enthusiastically.

'You better be in Ravenclaw,' said Lysander.

'No, if you aren't sorted into Gryffindor, I'll never speak to you ever again,' said Lorcan, grinning.

A worried look crossed the round face of the eleven-year-old.

'Don't worry, they're just joking,' said Rose, giving Sophia a reassuring smile.

'Yeah,' said Albus. Then, turning back to Mrs Longbottom, he said, 'anyway, can I have some iced pumpkin juice, please?'

'Of course, dear,' said Mrs Longbottom. 'Would you boys like anything?'

The twins took some pumpkin juice as well. After they had finished their drinks (Rose took a sip from Albus's glass), Rose and her friends thanked the landlady and walked out of the back door into the small courtyard, which was empty except for a few dustbins and some weeds. Lysander counted the bricks, and when he found it, tapped the right one with his wand, which trembled. A small hole opened in the middle of the moss-covered brick, and widened, getting larger and larger, until it became an archway.

Rose followed her friends through the archway and found herself, once again, on the long cobbled street. Because it was the last day of the holidays, Diagon Alley was much busier; everywhere she looked, Rose saw shoppers laden with heavy bags crammed with spell books, cauldrons and beetle eyes, parents pulling on the hands of young children who wanted to go to their favourite shops, and many people talking eagerly about the new Nimbus. The noise was overwhelming; Rose clapped her hands over her ears to block out the racket of the owls' hooting, the cries of the children, and the conversation of the crowd surrounding Quality Quidditch Supplies.

'How on earth are we going to find Yasmin?' Rose bellowed over the din.

'I'm here!' said a voice. Rose turned and saw Yasmin standing by Potage's Cauldron Shop.

'Yasmin!'

She hadn't changed at all; she was still the small, skinny, dark-haired girl that she had always been. Rose ran forward to hug her best friend. Shortly after she had let go, Yasmin was attacked by the arms of Albus, Lorcan and Lysander. Rose laughed as her she watched her struggle to breathe.

'Shall we split up then?' Rose asked, just as Yasmin managed to escape.

'Yeah,' said Lysander. 'Let's meet outside Flourish and Blotts at 5 o' clock, ok?'

'Ok.'

Rose and Yasmin set off down the crowded street, past Quality Quidditch Supplies (Rose had to literally grab Yasmin by the arm and drag her down the street to stop her from going inside it), and entered Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Madam Malkin, a squat witch with a wide smile that seemed to be plastered to her face, came bustling up to them and asked if she could help them.

'Yes, actually,' said Yasmin. 'Erm, we need two sets of new plain black robes each.'

'Hogwarts?'

'Yes.'

'Is that all?'

'Er, no actually. It says on our letter that we need dress robes.'

'Ah, yes, of course,' said Madam Malkin, looking smug. 'Follow me.'

'I have a really bad feeling about needing dress robes,' Rose whispered to her friend.

'Oh shut up,' Yasmin replied in a hushed voice. 'Maybe we're just going to have a ball or something this year?'

'I doubt it.'

'Anyway, come on. We may as well buy something nice.'

The two girls followed Madam Malkin to the back of the shop.

'I suppose you want something unique?' she said. 'So it'll be impossible for you to run across someone wearing the same dress as you, yes?'

'Yes, please,' said Rose.

Madam Malkin pushed open a small door revealing a dark room which Rose hadn't noticed before, and walked inside. Rose and Yasmin followed her. Rose was the only one who needed to stoop. Inside the room were four racks of dress robes. Each robe was different from the other; there were brightly coloured ones, frilly ones with lace, long ones, short ones, patterned ones, plain ones, and even one tiny lurid pink robe covered with purple hearts and little cupids.

'I'll leave you to choose,' said the shopkeeper. 'If it doesn't fit, I can adjust the size for you. Just focus on finding something that you like.' After that, Madam Malkin walked back of the dark room, leaving Rose and Yasmin alone.

'Hey, Yasmin,' said Rose, smirking. 'I think you should buy this pink one.' She held up the cupid-and-heart-covered robe. 'It's probably the only thing in here that's small enough to fit you.'

'Haha, very funny,' Yasmin said, rolling her eyes.

For the next few minutes, the girls walked among the dress robes, comparing them to each other and sharing opinions on each. In the end, Rose chose a baby blue dress with ruffled decorative folds from the waist downward, and Yasmin picked a sunshine yellow dress with white stitching.

Once they had paid, the girls left the shop and walked further down the street. After Rose quickly replenished her stock of Potions ingredients, they entered a small shoe shop (Penelope Proudfoot's Land Of Magical Shoes). Rose had only been inside the shop once before, but hadn't had time to look around properly. Candles were gliding slowly along the aisles, making it very warm and bright inside. The shopkeeper was sleeping in her chair behind the till.

'Let's just pick some shoes first and then wake the woman up,' said Yasmin.

'Ok,' replied Rose quietly. She started walking around the shop, trying to find a pair of shoes to suit her dress.

'Oi, Rosie,' called Yasmin from the back of the shop. 'Come here.'

Rose walked over to where Yasmin was standing, holding a pair of baby blue heels. Rose reached into one of her shopping bags and took out the dress she had bought from Madam Malkin's. The colours matched. She stepped out of her shoes and tried the heels.

'Whoa,' she said, holding on to Yasmin to keep her balance. 'I'm going to have to learn how to walk in these things. But they fit, and they look great! Thanks, Yazzo!'

Yasmin laughed. 'Why do you insist on calling me that?'

'Dunno,' replied Rose. 'But hurry up and find some shoes for yourself. We still need to get our books, and it's already half four.'

'I already have,' said Yasmin, showing her a pair of yellow stilettos.

'How on earth are you going to be able to walk in _those?_'' Rose asked sceptically.

'I'll learn. And anyway, I want to look tall for once.'

Rose snorted. 'Fine. Come on then.'

The girls walked to the till to find that the shopkeeper had woken up.

'That'll be 9 Galleons and 16 Sickles each, please,' he said.

Rose and Yasmin exchanged disbelieving looks. _10 Galleons?_ Wasn't that a bit too expensive for some shoes?

They both handed the shopkeeper the right amount of coins and left the shop, holding another bag in addition to all the others they had before.

'Bit expensive, don't you think?' Rose said.

'Oh well,' said Yasmin. 'It's ok; I still have enough money to buy my books.'

Rose and Yasmin walked into Flourish and Blotts. The manager seemed to be busy attempting to gain control over a particularly vicious book which was spitting fire on the all the other books nearby.

They found and took a copy each of the books that they needed then stood behind a blond-haired boy to join the short queue behind the manager's desk. The queue wasn't moving at all; the manager was now nowhere to be found.

'Where is he?' said Rose. 'It's almost five.'

'I'll go find him,' said Yasmin. 'Hold my books for me.' She placed her heavy spellbooks on top of the books that Rose already had in her arms and walked off.

Rose's arms began to hurt from carrying the weight of all six books.

'Do you want a hand with those?' said a voice.

Rose looked up. It was the blond-haired boy.

'You just like you're in pain carrying all those books, that's all,' he said, wearing a cocky grin. He took the top four books from her arms. Rose felt the ache leave her arms.

'Umm, thanks,' she said. Looking at him properly, she saw that he looked around the same age as her. His hair fell into his grey eyes and was messy yet it had an artistic touch to it; he somehow reminded her of a character from an anime on Muggle television. _I've never seen him at Hogwarts before_, she thought. _Maybe he's homeschooled?_

'I think the shopkeeper went to destroy those fire books or something,' he said, smiling. 'They looked pretty dangerous.'

Rose grinned. 'They were setting the other books on fire.'

'Do you go to Hogwarts?' he asked.

'Yeah. Do you? I don't think I've ever seen you before.'

'No, I–' he began, but just then, the manager returned to his place behind the desk, muttering to himself ('... _The Flaming Book of Fire_ ... never again ...'), and Yasmin came back to join the queue.

'Where are my books?' she asked.

'Oh, here,' said the boy, handing her the four books.

'Thanks,' she said, and smiled at him. He didn't return the smile, but instead, turned to face the desk.

Rose took the book that belonged to her back from Yasmin. The boy didn't talk to her again, and left the shop after he'd paid for his own books without even glancing at her.

'Why was that guy carrying our books?' Yasmin asked as they walked out of the bookshop, burdened with _another_ shopping bag (and this one was by far the heaviest).

'Said it looked like the books were too heavy for me, so he wanted to help,' Rose replied.

'He looked kind of familiar.'

Rose shrugged.

'So he just randomly started talking to you? And when I got back, he was asking about your school?'

Rose nodded.

'What a creep.'

'No,' Rose said slowly, 'he seemed quite nice actually.'

'Whatever. And where are those boys? I bought Al a watch for his birthday for a _reason_.'

There was a sound from behind the girls.

'Hey, dumbasses,' Albus and the twins said in unison.

'You're late,' said Yasmin.

'No we're not,' said Albus.

'We've been here for ages,' said Lysander, looking as though he was trying not to laugh.

'We were just standing behind that window, laughing at Rosie trying to flirt with the blonde dude,' said Lorcan.

'Yeah, who was that guy anyway?' asked Lysander.

Rose retrieved two books from her bag, and holding one in each hand, she smacked the twins on the head.

'Ow!' they both cried.

'Rose Weasley, you are honestly one of the most violent people I have ever met,' said Lorcan, folding his arms and raising his head arrogantly. 'Must you really always resort to primitive methods of conversation?'

'Why are you talking like Lysander?' she asked him. Lysander snorted.

'Now, now, Weasley,' said Lorcan, smirking and shaking his head. 'You'll talk to me properly from now on.'

'And why is that, Mr Scamander?' she asked, imitating his snobbish tone of voice.

'Well if you don't, I won't give you your present.'

'Present? What present?' Rose looked at him suspiciously. The last time Lorcan had bought her a present was about three years ago.

'Say the magic word or I won't give it to you.'

'Fine. Please may I have my present?'

'Yes, you may.'

Lorcan smiled as he took a large object out of one of his bags and handed it to Rose. It was a cage covered in blue cloth. Rose raised the cloth to look at what was inside.

A beautiful tawny owl sat inside, sleeping with its head under its wing.

'Seeing as I've forgotten to buy you anything for your last few birthdays, I thought I should be nice and make up for it now,' said Lorcan. 'Oh, it's a dude by the way,' he added.

Rose set the cage down on the floor and ran to hug her friend.

'Thanks Lorcan,' she said, rumpling his hair. 'I love you. In the most platonic way possible, that is.'

Lorcan laughed. 'Obviously,' he said, ruffling her hair in return. 'I love you too, ginger.'

'Have you quite done with your love proclamations?' Lysander asked irritably. 'I need to go home and send a letter to Tom.'

'No!' Rose and Lorcan said together. Then they laughed and hugged each other tighter still, swaying on the spot.

'Hey look,' said Lysander. 'It's that guy that Rose was flirting with.'

Rose finally let go of Lorcan and turned around to see where Lysander was looking, but couldn't see anyone.

'Where is he?'

'Aha! So you admit you were flirting with him?' sniggered Lysander.

'No,' Rose said uncomfortably. 'I just–'

The twins started chanting, 'Flirt, flirt, flirt, flirt, flirt, flirt...'

'_Advanced Potion Making_ is itching to hit your heads,' growled Rose, giving them both the most menacing glare she could muster.

'Calm down, woman,' said Lysander.

'Hey, where've Al and Yasmin gone?' asked Lorcan.

Rose looked around, but couldn't see the two anywhere.

'Let's just go to the Leaky Cauldron and wait for them there,' said Lysander. 'And if they don't come in ten minutes, we'll go home. They are perfectly capable of Flooing back without us.

'They might've just gone home, you know,' said Lorcan.

'I doubt it,' said Rose.

'Anyway,' said Lysander. 'Come on.'

Rose and the twins walked back along the cobbled street, which wasn't as crowded as it was before, and went back into the Leaky Cauldron. They sat down at a table and bought more pumpkin juice. After a short while of watching a very tall man trying to talk to Mrs Longbottom through the bandages wrapped around the bottom half of his face, Rose grew bored, opened _The Standard Book of Spell, Grade Six_ and began reading.

Yasmin and Albus walked into the pub just as Rose finished the introduction. Albus pulled Yasmin across the room, sat her down on an empty chair, and then took the empty seat between the twins himself.

'Where've you two been then?' asked Lysander.

Yasmin opened her mouth to reply, but Albus cut her off before she had even started with a wave of his hand.

'Basically,' he said slowly, 'little Miss Jones here thought it would be very clever to make the most of the owl distraction and run off to the Quidditch shop.'

Rose and the twins glared at her.

'Idiot,' said Lorcan.

'The girl's obsessed,' said Lysander.

'Poor thing,' said Rose, smiling at Yasmin with mock sympathy.

'So I followed her and dragged her out,' continued Albus.

'So what took you so long then?' Rose asked.

'I never said dragging her out was easy,' said Albus. 'It took me about fifteen minutes to get her out of there. She kept running back in and hiding behind the Chudley Cannons uniforms, thinking I wouldn't find her.'

Yasmin opened her mouth to say something again, but seeing the looks on her friends' faces, closed it immediately.

'Wise move,' said Albus.

When they had finished their drinks, the five took it in turns to climb into the fireplace and use Floo powder to travel back to the Burrow. Aunt Angelina was shouting at Fred and James when Rose stood up in the kitchen.

'What've they done now?' Rose asked Dom, who was leaning against the door.

'No idea,' she replied, 'but it's actually quite fun seeing those two being shouted at without me having anything to do with whatever stupid thing they've done.'

'Are you sure you haven't got anything to do with it?'

Dom smirked, and tapped her nose twice.

There were so many people eating at the Burrow at dinner that evening that they had to set a long table up outside in the garden in order to fit everyone. All of Rose's family – her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents (including her maternal ones) – were there, and Aunt Luna and Uncle Rolf had come, and so had Teddy Lupin, and his grandmother Andromeda, and even Hagrid, who decided to sit on a tree trunk that he had brought with him rather than risk breaking any chairs.

Grandma Molly's cooking was incredible, as always. Rose had three chicken legs, lots of potatoes, sprouts and peas, a bowl of carrot and coriander soup, and was on her second helping of apple crumble as Uncle Charlie started talking about resigning, for the twelfth time that summer.

'–And I don't see why I should teach about creatures if dragons aren't included,' he was saying.

'Well, they're dangerous creatures, aren't they?' said Hermione. 'Even NEWT students are too young for that.'

'I wish I could 'ave a dragon again,' said Hagrid with a wistful look on his face.

Uncle Charlie gave him a sympathetic smile and patted him on his dustbin-lid-sized hand, while Hermione sighed and shook her head, fighting back a smile.

'I mean, I hardly got to spen' any time with Norbert–'

'Norberta,' interrupted Uncle Charlie.

'–an' they're not that dangerous, not really, not if you know how to look after 'em good an' proper.'

Rose's mother opened her mouth to argue back, but Ron, who was sitting two seats away from her, reached across Hugo and put his hand on hers and she closed her mouth again.

'And Flobberworms are probably the most boring things I've ever had to teach about,' complained Uncle Charlie. 'I mean, what's the point in them? They just sit there and eat all day long, not doing anything else.'

'Did you know that Flobberworms are related to the Mumblewing?' said Aunt Luna. She had that look on her face – a glint in her wide eyes, eyebrows raised high – that said that she was going to start talking about something either that only existed in her own world or that nobody knew nor wanted to know about. 'Yes,' she said, nodding her head. 'They're quite fascinating creatures, aren't they? My father once said that the urine is extremely beneficial. It makes old closed wounds disappear.'

Rose couldn't tell if she was talking about the Flobberworm's urine or the Mumblewing's. What was a Mumblewing anyway?

'I didn't know that,' Uncle Charlie said politely. 'Anyway, I think we'll both be able to look after some proper beasts this year,' he said to Hagrid.

'Why's that?' said Fred.

'What's so different about this year?' asked James.

'Well,' said Uncle Charlie, 'this year at Hogwarts is going to be a bit more...' he trailed off after receiving a glare from Hermione.

'A bit more what?' asked Dom.

'Never mind.'

'I think I'm having a bad influence on you,' Albus whispered to Rose. 'I haven't seen you eat so much since our first time on the Hogwarts Express when you bought like fifteen of every sweet.'

'I felt quite sick after all that,' Rose said, smiling at the memory. She had just met Scorpius Malfoy for the first a few moments before, and needed many Strawberry Dragons to distract her from using the Jelly Legs Jinx on him. She had just read it up in one of her spellbooks the previous morning, and had no idea if it would work properly without practising it first, but it wouldn't hurt to try; Scorpius Malfoy was an arrogant bully and definitely deserved every single hex you could think of.

It was as if he could read her thoughts by just looking into her eyes. He could sense her fears, her worries, and he used them against her. Over the next two years, he had relentlessly picked on something that Rose was feeling particularly self-conscious about at the time; first it was "nerdiness", then her hair, her weight (she used to be quite round in her first couple of years at Hogwarts), her reading glasses, her freckles, her "unattractiveness", her "nerdiness" again, and so on. They were petty, stupid things to worry about, but at the time, it hurt when he made fun of her, and he was the main cause of her low self-esteem.

Luckily, he never returned to Hogwarts for his third year, as his father wanted to transfer him to Durmstrang instead. Rose's life at Hogwarts had improved significantly after that, and she was starting to feel good about herself again. There was now no reason to dumb herself down in order to be more popular. (She completely regretted ever doing that.) She had come to the conclusion that, some people were popular, and were never picked on, and there was no point in ever trying to be one of them, because she never would be. And maybe, if she just stopped trying to be like other people and went back to being her good old self again, she would be happier. After that, she had focused instead on things that mattered more in life to her: studies, fun, sport, family and friends. And food.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

The Burrow was complete pandemonium the following morning. Aunt Ginny and Angelina were screaming their lungs out at Fred and James_ again_. Those who were returning back to Hogwarts were running around the house, retrieving forgotten items from beneath armchairs and carpets, attempting to do some last-minute packing. Grandma Molly was throwing sandwiches at Rose's cousins, telling them to eat them on the train. Ron was outside, checking if the small purple car that was always used when children needed to be transported to King's Cross still worked. Grandpa Arthur, who looked happy at seeing the Muggle artefact out of the garage again, was inside it inspecting the steering wheel, and honking every few seconds.

Rose, whom no one had bothered to wake, was in a much bigger rush than the others. Though she had packed her trunk weeks ago, she still needed to get ready herself, and that usually took a long time to do. When she had washed her face, changed into a t-shirt and her favourite faded jeans, and her hair was looking considerably tamer than it had when she had first gotten out of bed, she ran downstairs for a hurried breakfast.

'Hurry up, Rosie dear!' said Grandma Molly.

Rose finished her breakfast, brushed her teeth, and then went back to her room to find that her trunk was gone. She wondered if this was another one of Fred and James's stupid pranks.

'Rose!' came the sound of Hermione from the bottom floor. 'I've taken your trunk to the car! Just hurry up and come downstairs – we're leaving in two minutes!'

After one last quick look in the mirror, Rose ran back downstairs again and walked out through the kitchen door and to where the purple car stood, surrounded by most of her family. She didn't bother saying goodbye to her relatives as they were going to Apparate to London. Then, she opened the car door and sat in the back. The purple car was bewitched to look completely normal from the outside, but inside, it was about seven times the size; all of Rose's cousins (Albus, Fred, James, Dom, Molly, Louis, Lucy, Roxanne and Lily), the Scamander twins and her brother Hugo could fit in the back seats with her along with their pets and trunks and even with a little room to spare. Rose placed her owl *****'s cage between her knees.

Rose played with ***** to occupy herself during the journey. After what seemed to be hours, the car finally stopped. Rose stepped out of the car, carrying the cage. Ron got out of the driver's seat and helped her carry her trunk to the station.

'Hey, look!' said Lily. 'There's platform nine.'

'And that's platform ten,' said Hugo, and pointing to the barrier between the two platforms, he added, 'and there's the road to Hogwarts!'

They all took it in turns to go through the barrier. First, Lily and Hugo went through it, then Lucy with Roxanne, Louis and Ron, and then Albus with Lorcan, leaving Rose to go with Lysander last.

'Shall we go then?' said Lysander.

Rose turned around as she leaned casually against the barrier, smiling to herself at how the Muggles would just walk past her without realising what she was doing. Lysander copied her. They closed their eyes.

A loud whistle told them that they were now on Platform 9 ¾. Rose and Lysander walked through the crowd of people; past families saying their final goodbyes to their children, past young children complaining in jealousy about being too young to go, past trolleys piled high with trunks and sleepy owls hooting irritably in their cages and toads leaping in and out of everyone's way. They walked, flapping their arms in front of their faces to clear their vision of the steam billowing from the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

Rose looked to her right and saw what she was looking for; a mane of bushy brown hair bobbing from side to side as Hermione waved goodbye to some sixth-years who, for some reason, were throwing liquorice wands at her and laughing.

'That's them!' Rose shouted to Lysander over the noise of the train and the ticket inspector's whistle.

They ran towards the large crowd of Weasleys, Potters and Scamanders. Rose hugged everybody goodbye, and got on to the train. It wasn't hard to find the compartment that Yasmin had promised to save the previous night, as most of the noise Rose could hear was coming from there. She pulled open the door, walked inside then sat down next to Yasmin. Albus and Lorcan were sitting opposite her, searching their trunks for more sweets to throw at their families.

Lysander walked into the compartment, closed the door then sat down next to Rose. 'Seems weird, doesn't it?' he said. 'We're starting sixth year already. Time really does fly very quickly.'

'Lysander, you say that every year,' said Yasmin. Everyone else in the compartment laughed, even Lysander, because it was true.

The train began to move. Rose stood up to stand by the window and wave goodbye to her family one last time, then when the train had turned a corner and the platform was no longer visible, sat back down again.

The train ride went by fairly peacefully, being disturbed only twice; once by Sophia stopping by to say hello, and another time by a loud explosion and some screaming from the end of the train where some foul smelling Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product had been set off, for which Fred, James, Dom, and their friend Charlotte Wood were automatically blamed. Rose spent most of the train ride reading, talking with her friends, eating sweets and watching Albus and Lorcan throw Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans into each other's mouths. When the sky outside began to darken and the countryside was barely visible, Rose and her friends changed into their school robes.

'The train is going quite slow now,' said Lysander, looking out of the window. 'We must be almost at Hogsmeade.'

'I'm hungry,' wailed Albus, patting his stomach just as it grumbled.

Rose and Yasmin glared at him in disbelief.

'You must have eaten at least–' Yasmin began, but stopped abruptly when the train lurched to a stop.

'We've stopped!' Lysander said brightly.

Albus's face lit up. 'Yes! The feast!'

'There's still the sorting though,' Rose reminded him.

'Best hurry up and get it over and done with then eh?' Lorcan said, opening the compartment door. He stepped out into the corridor and disappeared among the crowd of students eager to get off the Hogwarts Express first. Albus followed suit.

'What's up with Lorcan?' Rose asked.

Lysander shrugged. 'Probably having one of his mood swings again.'

'I'll never understand that boy,' Yasmin said.

'That's ok,' said Lysander. 'Even I still don't.'

Rose, Yasmin and Lysander got off the train and walked with the rest of the school towards where the horseless carriages stood. To the left of the carriages stood a large, hairy man, calling, 'Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!'

'Hagrid!' exclaimed Rose, Yasmin and Lysander, beaming up at the big man.

'Hello there, yeh three,' said Hagrid, his face crinkling up into a kindly smile. 'Yeh'd thank yer grandmother for me, wouldn't yeh? Sorry, I don' remember if I did las' night, an' that was some really nice food...'

Before they could reply, Hagrid has turned his back to them and continued escorting the frightened-looking first-years to the small boats on the shore of the Black Lake. Lysander shrugged at Rose and Yasmin then led the way towards the remaining carriages.

The carriage that they had clambered into was empty, and started moving as soon as they sat down. Rose had just stretched her legs out when something heavy fell on her lap.

'Ow! What the–?'

'Oh, hi there Rose,' said the person on her lap. He twisted himself around to flash a cheeky grin at her.

'Who–' Yasmin and Lysander began, but were interrupted by Rose.

'Josh?' she said uneasily. 'Er, where did you come from? And why are you sitting on my legs?'

'Oh right, sorry,' he said, getting to his feet awkwardly. Then, all signs of unease gone, he added: 'Just wanted to get away from all the girls trying to ambush me in the dark, you know.' He sat down next to Yasmin, opposite Rose.

'Always been that egotistical jerk, haven't you?' mused Yasmin, inspecting her nails.

Josh laughed. 'Yep,' he said, and then he turned his head to look at Rose. 'So how's your holiday been?'

'It was ok,' she mumbled.

'The World Cup was–'

'–Amazing, ok, you don't need to tell us,' Lysander cut in. 'We've had to listen to this one–' he pointed at Yasmin '–talk about it non-stop anyway.'

Josh looked slightly put out that he didn't have a chance to describe the World Cup, which Rose was immensely thankful for. Silence befell the four of them as the carriage advanced towards Hogwarts. Looking ahead, Rose saw the familiar turrets and towers of the castle, and smiled.

'My sister is starting Hogwarts this year,' Josh said, breaking the silence.

'I bet she'll be in Gryffindor,' said Yasmin, smirking.

'Naa, our whole family's been in Slytherin. I doubt she'll be any different.'

'You'll see.'

'What makes you so sure of yourself?'

Rose wanted to join in with the conversation, but she didn't know what to say. The carriage stopped. She jumped off and waited for the other three to also get off and join her before walking up the stone steps. The oak front doors were wide open and they could see the Entrance Hall from outside.

The moment Rose walked into the Hall, a strong pair of hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back. An ink bottle fell and smashed on the floor where she had been standing just a second ago. Blue ink spattered the front of her robes.

'Are you ok?' Josh asked, moving his hands from her waist to cup her face as he walked around to face her. 'Are you hurt?'

Slightly confused by his attempts to keep getting closer and closer to her, she shook her head. 'No, I'm ... ok. Thanks.'

'PEEVES!' Argus Filch, the caretaker, hobbled into the Hall, shaking a fist at something above Rose's head.

Rose looked up and saw Peeves, the school poltergeist, his arms loaded with more ink bottles, cackling loudly and spinning around. He then threw another bottle at Bethan Green of Ravenclaw, who screamed.

Josh raised his wand and cried: '_Waddiwasi!'_ The ink left the floor and shot up Peeves's nostrils. Well, most of it did anyway – some of it flew into his open mouth or just hit him in the face instead. Spluttering and cursing, Peeves left the Hall, but not before throwing the remainder of the ink bottles at Filch. It was a sign of the intense dislike everyone felt towards the caretaker that no one bothered to help him.

Rose and Josh walked across the Hall, careful not to step on any ink or broken glass. As they walked into the Great Hall, they were granted the familiar sight of the four long house tables, the High Table, the students chattering loudly, the ghosts gliding along, and the thousands of candles floating in mid-air.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

After saying goodbye to Josh, she hurried towards the Gryffindor table. Yasmin and Nate Jordan were next to each other but were sitting with a small gap between them. She couldn't see Albus or Lorcan, or any of her dormitory friends anywhere. _If I just sit next to Yasmin, she'll just completely ignore me and talk to Nate_, she thought. So she squeezed herself into the gap between them.

Nate looked slightly annoyed for a couple of seconds, but then greeted Rose with a smile. Yasmin, however, didn't bother being polite and just scowled. Rose smirked. _Serves you right for interrupting me and the blond guy at Flourish and Blotts_, she thought.

The chattering in the Hall died down when the headmaster, Professor Barraclough, stood up. He was wearing the bright yellow robes that he always wore on the day of the Welcoming Feast.

'Welcome back!' he squeaked. 'How nice it is to see so many familiar faces again! Now, I know you're all very hungry, but first, the First Years must be sorted into their houses.'

He flicked his wand, and the door leading to Entrance Hall flew open. Through it walked Professor Bedloe holding a stool with an old hat sitting on it, and then many little eleven-year-olds. The deputy head set the stool down in the middle of the hall, just in front of the High Table.

'We were never that small, were we?' said Rose.

Yasmin didn't reply.

The Sorting Hat stayed still for a few moments, and then opened at a hole near the brim and burst into song. The song was quite similar to those that it sung every year, except that it seemed to put more emphasis on the unity of the school houses.

'Now I'm going to read your names out,' Professor Bedloe said after the Hat had finished its song, 'and when I do, you're going to come and sit on the stool. I will then place the Sorting Hat on your head and it will sort you into your houses.

Adams, Benjamin!'

A small red-haired boy walked calmly up to the stool and sat down on it. Professor Bedloe put the Hat on his head.

"RAVENCLAW!" it shouted after a few seconds. A loud cheer came from the Ravenclaw table. Benjamin walked over to it with his head held high and sat down at a space on the bench.

'Kids these days...' Rose whispered, as "Allen, Matthew" quite literally swaggered towards the Gryffindor table after he had been sorted. 'We were so nervous at our sorting. Why are these so calm? They all look spoilt.'

Yasmin and Nate just grunted in reply.

Rose tuned the rest of the sorting out, not bothering to applaud for anyone, even for the new Gryffindors, until "Longbottom, Sophia" was called out. Sophia looked much more nervous compared to the children before her, much to Rose's relief.

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Rose cheered loudly and applauded enthusiastically with the rest of her house as Professor Longbottom's daughter sat down at the Gryffindor table. Lysander glared at Rose from the Ravenclaw table. She winked and smirked back at him.

After that, Rose lost interest in the sorting. Only when the long line of First-years waiting to be sorted had shortened considerably did she raise her chin from where it was resting on her palm and sit up straight.

'Tate, Leah,' said Professor Bedloe. A tiny girl with round, rosy cheeks and a blond bob tottered up to the stool.

'Is that Josh's sister?' asked Yasmin.

'Dunno,' replied Rose. 'She looks nothing like him, does she?'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Leah scuttled to the Gryffindor table and plonked herself next to Sophia.

'Turpin, Jeremy.'

'Must be,' said Rose. 'She's the only Tate.'

Once the sorting was over, Professor Bedloe took hold of the Hat with one hand and the stool with the other and walked out of the Hall.

Professor Barraclough, the headmaster, stood up on top of his chair. 'Well, I'm really hungry,' he said, patting his stomach just as it rumbled loudly. He flicked his wand, and food appeared on the plates on the tables. 'Let the feast begin.'

Rose was too hungry to care about what she was putting on her plate; she just got a few spoonfuls of each of the dishes within her reach and started eating.

After dinner, Professor Barraclough stood up again. 'I know you're all tired, and can't be bothered to listen to whatever I have to say, but I assure you, this year, I actually have something interesting to say. Firstly, I have a few start-of-term notices.

'The Forbidden Forest on the grounds is, in case you haven't managed to work out, forbidden. That means you're not allowed to go in it.

'Mr Filch, the school caretaker, has asked me to tell you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes.

'And now for the important announcement...'

Everyone in the Hall sat up a bit straighter in their seats.

'This year, Hogwarts will be the host of the Triwizard Tournament!'

Rose knew it was going to happen. She had figured it out at the Burrow. Dom never told her about needing dress robes in sixth year. This meant that not only would there be loads of extra seventh-years around the place, but the Quidditch Cup would be cancelled. Now that the old captain Paulina Montgomery had left school, there would have been a free Chaser space that Rose could have tried out for. In addition, she wasn't old enough to participate in the tournament; her birthday was on the tenth of June. Only the seventh-years or the people in her year who had a birthday before the Tournament began would be able to compete.

Rose sighed, annoyed. Everyone around her, however, began chattering excitedly.

'I can't believe it!' exclaimed Yasmin. 'Can you?'

'Of course I can,' Rose snapped.

'What's wrong with you? Why aren't you excited?'

Rose glared at her. 'Because of this stupid tournament, there weren't be any Quidditch this year―'

'What?' Yasmin interrupted. 'No, that's not possible, right?'

'And we're not even old enough to take part in the Tournament. So... this year's gonna be rubbish. Oh, and we'll have to share the school with a load of other people.

Yasmin looked like she was about to cry. 'B-but I just got a new broom... They can't cancel Quidditch, can they?'

Rose patted her best friend's hand sympathetically.

'Shush!' Professor Barraclough shouted over the school. 'I haven't finished yet.

'The Triwizard Tournament is, for those of you who don't know, a friendly competition between the three largest wizarding schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. In the past Tournaments, those who were of age would put their name into the Goblet of Fire, which would select one student from each school to compete in three dangerous tasks. The winner of the Tournament would not only win a thousand galleons, but eternal glory as well.

'However, this time, the tasks will be less dangerous. Not necessarily easier, but just safer. Because of this, the Ministry has decided that the age restriction can be lowered. Now, you may put your name in the Goblet as long as you are sixteen or over.'

Rose couldn't believe her ears. This meant that she could actually compete... well, try to anyway. She highly doubted that, even if she _could_ muster the courage to put her name forward, she would be selected to represent the school. Oh well.

'In addition to this,' continued Barraclough, 'there will be one more difference. We have decided that not having a Quidditch Cup just because of a few Triwizard Tasks is really unnecessary. So, we're going to try something new this year.'

The entire school seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the headmaster's next words. Yasmin was sitting as still as a statue, staring wide-eyed at him.

'The able Quidditch players of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will form a team for their school, and we will have a Quidditch Cup with six teams: the four Hogwarts houses, Beauxbatons team and Durmstrang team.'

There was an outbreak of cheering from the students, causing the Professor Barraclough to grin widely. Yasmin looked as though she was about to cry again, but this time, from happiness.

'Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will join us at the end of the second week of term. Until then, focus on you schoolwork please.

'I think that is all. Your prefects will lead you to your common rooms. Good night.'

Rose stood up at the same time as everyone else, smiling for the first time since she entered the Great Hall. Yasmin opened her mouth to say something, but Rose was too quick for her; she reached her hand out and pushed Yasmin's jaw upwards, firmly closing her mouth.

'Ok, good, you still have Quidditch. And we're old enough for the Tournament. Good. You don't need to say anything.'

Yasmin's eyebrows furrowed slightly. She hen shrugged, and went over to Nate, probably to tell him whatever it was that she had wanted to tell Rose.

'Gryffindors, this way! Gryffindors, follow me!' shouted Molly, Rose's cousin. 'I'm Head Girl. Follow me Gryffindors!'

Rose hung around in the Great Hall a bit longer so she could avoid the big crowd of students eager to get to their dormitories.

'Hey Ginger.'

Rose turned around to see Lysander waiting for her at the end of Gryffindor table. She walked up to him.

'Aren't you a prefect? Why aren't you leading the First-years to your common room?' She asked as they walked towards the marble staircase.

'I can't be bothered. And anyway, Jo can do that.'

'Lazy. You don't deserve to be a prefect.'

'Whatever. So why were you just sitting here like a loner?'

'I didn't want to get crushed. And this way, Yasmin might be asleep by the time I get to the dorm. I really don't care about how happy she is that Quidditch wasn't cancelled.'

'You knew, didn't you?' he asked suddenly.

'What?'

'You knew about the Tournament. You figured it out at the Burrow.'

Yes, I did,' she replied. 'I'm surprised _you_ didn't. Come on Scamander, I thought you were clever.'

He laughed. 'I dunno... I just wasn't that curious about why we had to buy dress robes. Anyway, I'm tired. You know Yasmin; she would have fallen asleep by now.'

Rose nodded. 'Good night.'

'G'night.'

She turned away and walked along the familiar route to Gryffindor Tower.

'Password?' asked the Fat Lady.

Oh dear.

Just then, the portrait swung aside and a girl with long black hair clambered out of the hole. 'Hey Rose,' she said.

Rose ran towards her saviour and hugged her tightly. 'Thank you so much, Anita!'

'It's ok. I realised you hadn't come up yet because the dorm was really quiet, so I thought I'd just step outside for a minute to see if you were coming.'

'Are you going to go in or am I just going to stay here like this all night?' the Fat Lady asked irritably.

Rose and Anita walk through the hole into the common room. The portrait closed behind them almost immediately.

'The password is "mandrake", by the way.'

'Thanks,' said Rose as they walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

Rose changed into her pyjamas and crawled under her covers, but she couldn't sleep since the moonlight was shining directly onto her face. She scrambled back out of bed and walked over to the window. A sudden movement caught her eye. A large animal charged out of the Forbidden Forest. It looked like a dog, but it must've been at least three times the size of a normal one. Its eyes, even from that distance, could be seen; they looked like lamps, eerie in all the darkness that they were surrounded by. Then, without warning, the dog vanished.

Rose stayed by the window for the next ten minutes, but in the end, having seen nothing else interesting, gave up. She pulled the curtains shut and went back to bed.

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><p>Sorry, this chapter is a bit short..<p>

Thank you for the reviews! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hey:) Sorry, it's been a while.. But on the bright side, this chapter is longer :D

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><p>CHAPTER SIX<p>

'Oi, wake up!'

Rose ignored the voice and turned over on her side, facing away from whoever was talking. Just when she was starting to feel comfortable again, a pillow hit her in the face. Rose sat bolt upright, looking around wildly for the culprit.

Yasmin laughed. 'You look really funny!'

'Did _you_ throw this at me?' demanded Rose, indicating the pillow.

'Yeah.'

'So how did it hit me in the face? I was facing away from you.'

'Woah, I have quite a good aim, don't I?'

Rose glared at her.

'Magic, duh,' said Yasmin, waving her wand in the air.

'Oh.' Rose had almost forgotten that they were at Hogwarts... That meant that she could now do magic! She jumped out of bed and rummaged in her trunk for her wand. When she found it, she held it high. It felt slightly unfamiliar in her hand. She flicked it, making the curtains that she had shut last night pull themselves open. She was glad that she hadn't lost the ability to perform magic.

'I still don't understand why you bothered to spend weeks in the library last year to learn non-verbal spells when you knew we were going to learn them this year in class.'

Rose shrugged.

Once she had changed into her school robes, they left the dormitory.

'Shouldn't we wait for the boys?' Yasmin asked when she saw Rose walk straight across the common room to the portrait hole.

'Naa. They've probably already gone anyway.'

Yasmin shrugged, looking slightly disappointed, but left the common room with Rose. When they entered the Great Hall, they saw that the post had already arrived. They sat down at the end of the table next to their dorm mates. Jess, Melissa and Anita looked up when they saw them and smiled. Melissa put the newspaper that was in her hand down and took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

'Hey Melissa,' said Rose. 'Can I look at your newspaper for a minute?'

Melissa nodded.

Rose picked the newspaper up and read the main headline on the front page: _Breakout from Azkaban: First in 24 years_. Underneath it was a picture of a toad-like woman snarling at the camera. She looked strangely familiar. Rose continued reading.

_For the first time since the days of Dark Lord Voldemort, there has been a breakout from Azkaban wizard prison. Ministry officials are trying to find out how Dolores Jane Umbridge, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against Muggle-borns in 1998, managed to escape. The Dementors (prison guards) told the Ministry that they don't understand how she managed to escape past the tight security of the prison, and that she must have had help from outside. What worries us is who would want such a criminal to be free, and why? _

_Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, urges the magical population of Britain to remain calm; Umbridge may seem to be wild and dangerous, but in reality, she can't do much damage without a wand. _

_If you see Umbridge, please alert the Ministry immediately._

'Someone's escaped from Azkaban?' asked Yasmin, looking at the newspaper over Rose's shoulder.

She nodded. 'Here, read it,' she said, giving Yasmin the newspaper.

'Rose,' said a voice. Rose turned around to see Professor Longbottom with his hands full of timetables. 'The top one's yours. Take it.'

'Thanks Professor,' she said, taking her timetable and turning back around to study it. She sighed immediately; she had no free periods today.

After breakfast, Rose and Yasmin went back up to Gryffindor Tower to collect their bags and the books that they would need for today.

'Ugh, what time is it?'

They looked across the common room and shook their heads in amusement; Albus and Lorcan stumbled down the staircase to the boys' dormitory in their pyjamas, rubbing their eyes sleepily.

'Hmm,' said Yasmin, smirking. 'Well, let's just say that you have less than ten minutes to change, go down to the Great Hall, get your timetables, have breakfast, come back here, get your bag and books for the day, then make it to your first lesson.'

Albus's eyes widened. 'That's impossible though.'

'Your fault for not waking up.'

'Come on,' Albus said to Lorcan. 'Let's just change, put all our books in our bags, go down, and get our timetables. Forget breakfast.'

'I never thought I'd ever hear you say anything like that,' said Rose, dropping her bag on the floor, mouth wide open in awe.

'Oh shut up.'

'I'm not taking all my books in my bag!' said Lorcan. 'It'd be really heavy. And they wouldn't all fit anyway.'

'Well, my books will fit in mine, and I can just bewitch it to make it really light,' said Albus.

'And I can just go get my timetable, then Summon the books I'll need.'

'Or you can borrow the books from school for today,' said Rose.

'Ew, no,' said Lorcan. 'Last time I used a book from school, it exploded in my face. I stank like Bubotuber pus for the rest of the day.'

Yasmin snorted. 'I remember that. Anyway, you two better hurry up; you've only got five minutes now.'

The boys ran back up to their dormitory to change.

'Come on, let's go,' said Rose.

They picked their bags up again and power-walked to the Muggle Studies classroom. They went straight inside instead of waiting outside in the corridor, as Professor Haigh always left the door unlocked so that her students would be ready before her.

Only around a third of the class had arrived, though the bell for signalling the start of class had already gone. Luckily, no one had taken the seats at the back. Rose and Yasmin sat down at an empty desk near the window and retrieved their books and stationary.

'Good morning class,' said Professor Haigh as she hobbled into the room. She was wearing the ragged brown robes that she always wore. After squinting at the class through her thick spectacles, she frowned. 'Where is everyone?'

The class shrugged in reply.

'Well, it _is_ the first day of term, I suppose,' she said slowly, 'but you've been at Hogwarts for five years... You should all know your way around by now. Anyway, let's begin.'

Professor Haigh then began a lesson about the history of Muggle medicine, a topic which they would be studying up until Christmas. The lesson was going smoothly, until Professor Haigh stopped in the middle of a lecture about a Muggle who believed that some illnesses happened because a witch or wizard lived in the same village.

'What's going on? I was told that I would be teaching a full class of Sixth-years this year, but there's only fourteen of you here today, which is around half.' She stood at the front of the class, looking down at the floor with her eyebrows knitted tightly together, deep in thought, pouting slightly. There was the sound of something knocking at the window, but Professor Haigh didn't seem to hear it.

'Professor, there's an owl at the window,' Ellie Jenkins, Rose's friend from Hufflepuff, said.

Professor Haigh looked up and flicked her wand when she saw the screech owl perched on the window sill. The window unlocked itself and flew wide open, allowing the owl to fly inside. Haigh took the scroll from the owl and spread it open against the wall. 'Oh,' she said once she had read it. 'Well that clears things out then.'

'What does it say Professor?' Yasmin asked loudly.

'The headmaster wrote to me saying that when he said I'd have a full class, he meant once the other two schools arrived.'

'So Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are going to be in our classes?' asked Lena Jamal, also of Hufflepuff.

'Yes, of course dear,' said Haigh. 'Seeing as the age restriction has been lowered and Sixth-years will also be competing, you will be sharing classes with them this year. Anyway, we can carry on with our lesson now.'

'Is there any point in going anywhere?' Rose asked her friends when the bell rang for break. 'We have Muggle Studies again next.'

'Yeah, let's just stay here,' said Yasmin.

Rose spent break making small talk with Yasmin, Ellie and Lena.

'Are you still planning on trying out for your Quidditch team?' Ellie asked Rose.

'Yeah,' Rose replied. 'I probably don't have much of a chance of making it onto the team, but I want to try out anyway. Hey Yasmin, who's the new Gryffindor Captain now?'

'I don't know, but tryouts are this Saturday; it said on the notice board.'

'Why is it so early?' asked Lena. 'Normally, Quidditch tryouts are in late September, aren't they?'

'I suppose the Captain wants the team to start practising early because the Quidditch tournament is different this year.'

'Hmm, I suppose, yeah...'

After another Muggle Studies lesson ― from which they received their first homework of the year ― they went down to the Great Hall for lunch. Ellie and Lena said goodbye and went to sit at their table.

'So what happened then?' Yasmin asked Albus and Lorcan.

It took them a few moments to work out what she was referring to. 'Oh, I'm ok,' said Albus. 'We weren't late, and I'm just going to take the stuff I don't need back upstairs after lunch. This one though,' he said, motioning Lorcan by tilting his head towards him, 'wasn't as lucky.'

'Why, what happened?' Rose and Yasmin asked.

'Well...' Lorcan began.

Albus smirked.

'I got to my lesson, and then I _accio_'d my book, but it kind of whacked the professor on the head while it was trying to get to me, so... I, erm, I got detention.'

'You got detention at the start of your first lesson?' asked Rose, mouth wide open.

'Woah, that was quick,' Yasmin said, smirking as well.

'I was born to break records, my dears,' Lorcan said, grinning proudly.

'Ew, deflate your head a bit, would you?' said Rose.

There was a brief silence, and then Albus and Lorcan burst out laughing.

Rose looked at Yasmin, who shrugged. 'What?' she asked.

Albus shook his head and grinned. 'Merlin, you are so gullible.'

'Huh?'

'We just came down here, got our timetables and found out we were free until after lunch so we went back up.'

'And slept,' Lorcan added.

'Ugh, I hate you two,' said Yasmin.

'Of course you do, dear. Of course you do.'

After lunch, Rose slung her bag over her shoulder and got up from the table to go to the library to do her Muggle Studies homework. 'Are you coming?' she asked Yasmin.

Yasmin looked as though she was about to reach for her bag too, but stopped when Nate Jordan sat down next to Albus and smiled at her. She smiled back, and then turned to Rose. 'Are you crazy? It's the first day back and you're already going to the library?'

'I take that as a no, then,' Rose said, and went to the Hufflepuff table to ask Ellie and Lena to join her instead.

'Yeah, sure,' said Ellie. 'I'd rather get it done now and laugh at everyone else slaving over it the night before it's due.'

Rose nodded her head in agreement.

'I haven't finished eating yet,' said Lena. 'I might join you guys later; if I can be bothered, that is.'

Rose laughed. 'You're never going to start eating faster, are you?'

'Nope... not any time soon, anyway,' Lena replied.

Rose and Ellie finished their homework in the library.

'Have you got Care of Magical Creatures next?' Rose asked.

'No, I dropped it; I'm free for the rest of the day.'

'Ok, bye then.'

'Bye.'

Rose walked out of the oak front doors into the grounds on her own. It was quite a nice day; the sun was shining and there weren't too many clouds. She got to the edge of the Forbidden Forest where they normally had their Care of Magical Creatures lessons, only to find that no one was there. She checked her watch; she was ten minutes early.

'Hey Rose.'

Rose looked up and saw Uncle Charlie walking out from the Forest. 'Hey Uncle Charlie.'

'It's "Professor Weasley", actually,' he said, cocking his eyebrow in a sarcastic manner.

Rose snorted. 'Whatever.'

'So what are we doing today, Uncle Charlie?' asked Albus, who had just arrived with Yasmin.

Uncle Charlie sighed in defeat. 'Ok. You two, shut up. You'll find out when the rest of the class comes.'

After a somewhat boring lesson about Acrumantulas (they didn't get to see any; Uncle Charlie made them sit down on the grass and talked them through safety and how to approach an Acrumantula without being hurt, even though he obviously looked like he wanted to skip that lesson, and he promised them they would see some young ones next lesson), Rose and Yasmin said goodbye to Albus and took the path to Herbology. Herbology was slightly more interesting, as Lorcan got shouted at for sleeping all through the lesson introduction.

After what seemed to be a very long day, the bell finally rang. Rose, Yasmin and Lorcan followed the rest of the class back up to the school.

'Dinner smells nice,' said Yasmin.

'Dinner always smells nice,' said Lorcan, rolling his eyes.

'Ugh, you're so annoying.'

'So are you.'

'I don't even know why I bother to talk to you.'

'Hear hear.'

'You're lazy.'

'You're stupid.'

'You're arrogant.'

'You're obsessed with Quidditch.'

'At least I'm better at it than you.'

Rose decided to tune the rest of Yasmin and Lorcan's bickering out, and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. 'Hey,' she said to Lysander, who was talking to his friend Tom Corner.

Lysander looked up and seemed surprised to see her. 'What are you doing here?'

'Nothing... just bored of the Gryffindors.'

Lysander and Tom laughed.

Rose realised that some of the Ravenclaw girls in her year were giving her disapproving looks, but she ignored them and piled food onto her plate.

'Have you got any homework yet?' she asked Lysander.

'Homework? Naa, I've been free all day.'

'What?'

Lysander laughed again.

'Ugh, you're so lucky. I thought I'd be free to just chill this evening since I finished my Muggle Studies homework at lunch, but noo, Weasley and Longbottom just had to give me more, didn't they?'

'Aw, poor you,' he said, patting her shoulder and giving her a sympathetic smile. 'Do you want some help?'

'How are you going to help me? You probably haven't learned any of what my homeworks are about.'

'True, but I am quite clever, you know.' He winked.

Rose smiled. 'Why do you want to help me anyway?'

'I don't know... I'm just kind of... bored of the Ravenclaws. D'you know what I mean?'

'Yup. Ok, I'll pay you back later.'

'I was hoping you'd say that.'

She slapped him on the back of the head, earning a few glares and whispers from the Ravenclaw girls. 'Idiot.'

'You know you love me,' he sang.

'Whatever makes you happy,' she sang back, poking him on the cheek while his mouth was full of pumpkin juice, causing him to accidentally spray some of it out on the bread rolls.

'You know what,' he said after he swallowed what was left of the drink in his mouth. 'I think you'll do just fine on your homework without me.'

'No, please, no,' she wailed, pouting. 'Please, I'll repay you again... like, twice as much.'

'I was hoping you'd say that.'

She rolled her eyes, picked her bag up and started to walk out of the Great Hall.

'Hey, wait up!' Lysander called, running after her.

Rose and Lysander stayed in the library until the sun set, finishing homework, and then just reading.

Lysander yawned. 'I'm tired,' he said, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

'Me too. Let's go.'

He nodded his head in agreement, said goodbye, and walked off to the Ravenclaw Tower.

'Mandrake,' Rose said to the Fat Lady once she reached the portrait. It swung aside, allowing her to climb through the hole and into the common room. Without warning, something soft hit her head. Soft, but with force. She looked down and saw a cushion. She picked it up, and looked around the crowded, cosy room for the culprit.

'Hey! Over here.'

Albus was lying down on a couch over the legs of Lorcan and Nate, smirking. Yasmin was sitting on the floor besides them, staring absent-mindedly into space.

Rose walked up to them and threw the cushion at Albus's head.

'Wha-'

'Get up, lazy. And why are you just laying around as if you own the place? Don't you have things to do? Homework, perhaps... hmm?'

'What is it with you and your homework obsession?' asked Yasmin.

Lorcan and Nate laughed.

'I would do it,' Albus said slowly, 'but why bother when I know you're going to do it for me?'

Rose glared at him. 'I'm tired. Good night.'

'It's really early, though,' said Yasmin, looking at her watch.

Rose ignored her, went up to the empty dormitory and changed into her pyjamas. She didn't know why she was feeling so annoyed at everyone... Maybe it was because the Quidditch tryouts were in five days, and she didn't have any time to practise? She didn't know how she'd pluck up the courage to go down to the Quidditch pitch with her broom, knowing that everyone would give her funny looks, maybe even laugh. And what if she didn't make it on to the team? There was only one place after all, and there would surely be many people wanting it as well as her.

She sighed in frustration, and got out of bed to close the curtains. Looking outside at the now dark grounds, she remembered the dog from the night before. She didn't know why she wasting her time thinking about it. It was just an animal; not really an uncommon thing to see outside. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Rose went back to bed. Not long after her head sank into her pillow, she fell asleep.

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><p>Sorry if there are spellinggrammar/other mistakes.. I typed most of this at night, in the dark:/ yeah, I'm weird.

I know there isn't really much going on right now, but I'll try and make it more interesting when Scorpius comes into the story.. which is quite soon.. keke :D

And one more note: After this chapter, I'm thinking of writing in first person. I think I'm saying "Rose this" or "Rose that" or"she this" etc too often, and with "I", it's not really that obvious.. I don't know :/ But I want to make the story more about Rose, if you get what I mean.. because she hangs around with her friends quite often, so I feel that it's not all that obvious that she's the main character.

Thank you for the reviews.. They make me happy :3


	7. Chapter 7

Summer holidays = more updates.. yay :D

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><p>CHAPTER SEVEN<p>

I woke up on Saturday morning with a headache. Anita's bedside clock told me it was only 4.15, so I turned back over to sleep again, but I just couldn't.

After an hour of tossing and turning, I got out of bed and changed into some weekend clothes: skinny jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. Then, I rummaged through my trunk and retrieved my broomstick. It was nothing new or flashy ― I didn't even know what make it was ― but it was far better than any of the brooms that school had to offer. Just before leaving the dormitory, I grabbed a hoodie and slung it over my shoulder.

The common room was empty apart from Fred and James, who were asleep on the rug by the fireplace. I was really tempted to go and draw something on their faces ― it was something that they would do to me ― but I had a feeling that they'd want revenge.

I pushed the portrait open and went through it.

'Why are you going out this early?' asked the Fat Lady.

'I don't know,' I replied. I turned my back on her and crept down the staircase. I didn't know if I was allowed to be out of the dorm right now, but I didn't want to risk getting into trouble in case I wasn't.

I tried to make as little noise as I could and luckily, I made it to the Entrance Hall without being seen by any teachers. Much to my disappointment, however, the front doors were closed. They would make a lot of noise if I tried to open them. Just then, I heard a sound coming from the... doors? I moved to the side.

The doors opened, and Professor Trelawney walked inside, muttering to herself. '... Don't understand... Grim... haven't seen... while...'

She walked straight past me without noticing me. _She's probably sleepwalking_, I thought. _Or maybe her inner eye is really busy so her outer ones aren't working properly_. I rolled my eyes, and slipped out through the now open doors.

It was a good thing that I thought to bring a hoodie with me; it was still very early in the morning, and the sun hadn't risen yet, or maybe it had; I couldn't really tell since it was quite cloudy. Either way, it was cold.

Pulling my hoodie over my head, I started jogging towards the Quidditch pitch. I looked around the stands when I got there, and to my relief, they were deserted. _Perfect_.

I swung one leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground, hard. A scream of glee escaped my lips as I flew higher. I had missed the wonderful feeling of being airborne; the emptiness in my stomach as I made a dip, my hair flying behind me, the skin on my face feeling strange when I sped up and seeing everything on the ground reduce in size as I rose higher made me smile in spite of my headache. I also started to feel sleepy and hungry, but I ignored it.

I flew around for quite a while, practising the different moves and tactics that I had learned from flying with my cousins at the Burrow over the years. After I felt that I was slightly more ready for the tryouts, I landed at the edge of the pitch.

'Some nice skills you've got there.'

I looked around for the owner of the voice in surprise; I wasn't aware that I had company. I spotted someone sitting in the stands, but I couldn't tell who it was as their hood was covering half of their face. I presumed it was a boy since the voice didn't really sound much like a girl's.

He stood up and came down the steps towards me. 'Hey,' he said when he was on the pitch. He pulled his hood down. It was Josh.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. What was he doing outside on his own? And at this time of morning? How long had he been sitting there and watching me? Why didn't I see him before?

'What time is it?' I asked him.

He held his arm up and pulled his sleeve, revealing his watch. 'Quarter past seven.'

'What are you doing out here?'

He shrugged. 'I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd go for a walk outside. Then I saw someone flying around and decided to watch.'

'I couldn't sleep either.'

'So you thought you'd practise for the Quidditch tryouts?' he chuckled.

I looked down and felt my cheeks heat up.

'I never knew you loved Slytherin so much.'

I lifted my head and looked at him, confused.

'I'm sorry babe. It won't really work, because you're not one.'

'Huh?'

He laughed at my confused expression. 'Nice hoodie,' he said with a wink.

I looked down at what I was wearing. Oh. My hoodie was green. I rolled my eyes. 'Ha ha. Very funny.' I held my broom over my shoulder, turned around and started to walk away from him. Maybe I could hide my broomstick somewhere, go eat breakfast and then come back out again?

'Hey! Where are you going?'

I ignored him and carried on walking. A hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back around. My broom fell to the floor.

'What's wrong with you?'

I avoided looking at him. 'Nothing,' I mumbled.

'Calm down. I was just joking.'

I didn't reply.

'You look tired,' he said quietly. He put a hand under my chin and pushed it upwards, forcing me to look at him, 'Do you want to sleep?'

'Um...' What was he playing at? I couldn't tell if he was trying to be nice or just telling me that I was ugly. Why was he being nice and talking to me these days anyway? He never really noticed me before in the five years that we'd known each other.

'The Gryffindor tryouts are today, aren't they?' he asked, looking into my eyes.

I nodded, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

He smiled sympathetically. I tried to stop myself from staring; he had really cute dimples, and his dark brown eyes seemed so sincere. I slapped myself mentally. What the hell was I thinking about?

'Do you want to just rest here?'

I shrugged.

'Come on, then.' He took hold of my wrist and led me to the stands. I noticed that his hand was slowly moving down my arm, until he was no longer holding my wrist, but my hand. I felt my cheeks grow warmer.

'Sit down and sleep,' he said softly, carefully pushing me down onto a seat.

I nodded and thanked him.

'I'm going to get breakfast. Do you want anything?'

'Yes, please,' I replied with a small smile.

He grinned, and then walked away.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

'Wake up, sleepy head.'

I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in the Quidditch pitch stands with my head resting on Josh's shoulder. 'How long have I been sleeping?' I asked, sitting up straight and rubbing my eyes.

'Just over an hour.'

My eyes widened in surprise.

'Here, have some toast. I just re-heated it,' he said, twisting his wand over in his hand.

I took a piece from the stack on his lap, and thanked him.

'Tryouts are starting soon. I should go. See you.'

'Bye.'

I watched him get up, place the remaining toast on the seat he was sitting on and leave. I wondered why he kept treating me as though we were close friends. _I don't even make the effort to talk to him properly, so why does he bother with me?_

After a few minutes of eating my breakfast, I saw a group of people walking across the pitch to the changing rooms. I stood up, grabbed my broomstick and went to wait outside the changing room for them.

The door opened.

'...And if they've got an attitude, we'll just kick them out. I don't want someone on the team if they don't appreciate it and try their best,' someone was saying.

'Rose?'

I turned around and saw the team dressed in their Quidditch robes.

'Hey,' I said nervously. 'I'm here for the tryouts.'

'Great!' Yasmin said, beaming.

I gave her a small smile. 'So who's the...' I trailed off when I saw a badge with a 'C' on it pinned to her chest. It looked as though it had been polished recently. 'You're the captain?' I asked loudly.

She grinned.

'How come you never told me?'

'I wanted it to be a surprise!'

I rolled my eyes for the third time that morning.

'Hey, look,' said Albus, pointing at something behind me. 'The people for the tryouts are here.'

I was surprised at how few people had turned up.

'Maybe it's because it's the first weekend―' started James.

'And people can't be arsed to wake up,' finished Fred.

'Well at least we've sorted out the lazy ones,' said Yasmin.

I looked at the group of people who had just arrived. There were only six. They all looked younger than me, and they were all boys. I didn't know any of them by name, just by sight.

'Ok guys!' said Yasmin.

The boys looked at her.

'You lot are all here for the position of chaser, right?'

They nodded.

'Ok, so I think we should start off with some penalties. You all have five goes each. Get into line, and get started then!'

The keeper, Sophie Macmillan, got on her broom and flew over to the goalposts, while the boys got into line. I joined the end of it.

'Hey, Ginger,' Lorcan said, walking up to me with a smile.

'Why are you so happy?' I asked incredulously.

He shrugged, still smiling.

'Finally out of your moody phase?'

He nodded, looking at me with puppy eyes.

I laughed; he looked kind of cute. 'Aw Scamander, that's good to know.' I pinched his cheeks and ruffled his hair.

'I don't know why the idiot wanted me to come here as well, though,' he complained, finally losing the smile. 'I mean, I'm a seeker! What have I got to do with the chasers?'

'I take it that you're talking about Yasmin.'

He nodded.

'Anyway, we should watch them now.'

The first boy scored two goals out of five. He missed the first three; it was probably because he wasn't expecting Sophie to be very good seeing as she was in fourth-year. The second one scored four. The boy after him: all five. None of the others after did that well.

When it was my turn, I sighed. 'I can't miss any of them. And even if I don't, I'll probably just have to go against that guy again.'

'Good luck,' Lorcan said.

I thanked him, got on my broom, and kicked off from the ground.

'Here.' Yasmin threw me a battered Quaffle. I caught it easily, and flew towards Sophie and the goalposts. I stayed still for a few seconds, then sped towards the third hoop and hurled the Quaffle with as much force as I could. It went through.

I flew to the Quaffle and caught it before it fell to the ground.

After that, everything was a blur. I had no idea how I managed to score all five goals, but I did. I had never played this well before, ever.

Sophie gave me a weak smile. 'We should go and find out what's going to happen now.'

I nodded in agreement, and followed her back down. No one, however, noticed us joining them; they were all standing in a semi-circle, watching two people arguing.

'I don't care how well you did. I'm not having someone with that kind of attitude on the team.'

'What, so you're going to let someone worse than me get on it instead?'

The boys in front of me looked annoyed. I walked around them to see Yasmin glaring at the boy who had scored five times.

'Rose didn't miss any either,' said Albus. 'I was watching.'

The boy now looked furious.

'Just do us all a favour and get lost, would you?' spat Lorcan.

'Yeah, just let another one of your friends on the team, why don't you?' the boy snarled at Yasmin. 'You've already got Potter and Scamander, so why not just get Weasley as well?'

I wondered how he knew my name; I had never spoken to him before. I didn't even know what year he was in.

'You know what, Adams? I think I will.'

'Bitch,' the boy, Adams, said quietly.

Yasmin's face hardened.

'Just go,' Albus said in a harsh tone of voice. 'I don't see why you're still here when you obviously don't like the rest of the team. Go. Piss off.'

Adams opened his mouth to retaliate, but one of his friends grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away before he had the chance to.

Yasmin took a deep breath before speaking again. 'Sorry about that,' she said to the rest of the boys. 'Thanks for coming. I'm sorry you couldn't make it onto the team, but you can always try for the beater position next year.'

The boys all turned to go.

'Hey, you!' Yasmin called to the boy who had scored four goals. 'What's your name again?'

'Daniel Hartley.'

'Well, you're actually quite good, so you can be our substitute chaser, ok?'

He smiled, thanked her, and then followed the boys back towards the castle.

'What happened? Why did you start arguing?' I asked Yasmin.

'He walked in to Lorcan―'

'―Almost knocking him over,' Albus interrupted.

'―And then swore at him for not looking where he was going instead of apologising,' Yasmin finished.

'Oh.' I didn't know what else to say, so I just stood there silently.

After a few moments, Yasmin grinned. 'Welcome to the team, Rose.'

I couldn't believe it.

_I'm on the team_.

* * *

><p>Note: When I write in italics (like, a whole sentence and not just one word), well... they're Rose's thoughts.. Which is why they are in present tense. So that's not me just accidentally shifting tenses. I thought I'd point that out, just in case :)<p>

Note #2: I hope changing it to first person hasn't affected the story too much.

Note #3: Rose, Yasmin, Lorcan and Albus are in Gryffindor. Lysander and Tom are Ravenclaws.

Note #4: Ugh.. I know I'm taking ages to get into the story, but I promise I'll make things more interesting soon.. Thanks for bearing with me :)

Thank you for the reviews ^^


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

The second week of school went by very quickly. At the end of every class, the teachers would remind us to act responsibly when Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, and to treat them with respect. I spent most of my free time completing my homework in the library with Ellie or my friend Saffron from Slytherin, or hanging out in the common room. We didn't have any Quidditch practice that week, as the pitch was booked for the tryouts of the other teams.

On Friday, the entire school finished its classes early, in order to give time for the teachers to make the school look presentable. This didn't really affect me, since I didn't have any lessons after lunch on Fridays anyway.

When I went to Gryffindor Tower after lunch with Albus, I saw a small crowd around the notice board. Albus asked them what it was.

'Hogsmeade tomorrow,' said Jess.

'This is going to be a good weekend,' said Albus. 'Feast today, Hogsmeade tomorrow, and I've already finished my homework.'

'And we'll find out who the champion will be, too,' I added.

'In one day?'

'Well, that what happened last time. They might have changed it, I don't know.'

He then went to the other side of the common room to play a few games of Wizard's Chess with Nate.

When it was time for dinner, Yasmin came up to me.

'Hey Rose, come on. We should go down now.'

I nodded, and followed her out of the portrait. Everyone in the Great Hall was chattering excitedly. Yasmin sat near the end of the table, next to Lorcan. I sat opposite her, beside Albus.

Professor Barraclough stood up and cleared his throat. 'Good evening, Hogwarts,' he said in his squeaky voice. 'As you know, today we will be joined by the students and headmasters of Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute. Now, if you will follow me outside to wait for their arrival―'

The rest of his words couldn't be heard over the sound of all of the students in the hall getting to their feet and continuing with their conversations. I walked with everybody else through the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds. I already knew how they would arrive, as my dad had told me and Hugo a few years ago, but I was still on my tiptoes to see over the heads of the seventh-year Ravenclaws in front of me.

'What's going on?' Yasmin wailed, jumping up and down. I looked down at her and let my arm rest on her shoulder, making her appear even shorter.

She pushed my arm off and glared at me before bouncing around again near Albus and Nate. Nate laughed and patted her on the head. She pouted, but I could tell that she was enjoying the attention from him.

'Hey look!' I said, pointing to the lake. Something was rising from the dark water and creating large ripples: a mast. It continued rising until the ship it belonged to became visible.

Yasmin grew more and more impatient upon hearing everyone around her talking about the ship.

'Fine, get on my back,' said Albus.

'Huh?'

'I'll give you a piggyback so you can see.'

Yasmin looked as though she was about to decline for a second, but then changed her mind. 'Thanks!'

Albus knelt down slightly, allowing her to climb onto his back.

I watched in amusement as I saw Nate watching the two and scowling.

BOOM!

A multicoloured firework exploded in the air above the ship, which had now reached the bank. A door opened, revealing a fairly tall man with long dark hair, wearing fancy dark red robes.

'Ah, Professor Borg!' Barraclough greeted him.

Borg smiled widely, revealing a set of brilliant white teeth. He shook hands with Barraclough, and then, as though feeling that a handshake wasn't enough, pulled him into a hug.

Students wearing blood-red robes started streaming out onto the bank. There were about twenty of them in total, and they were all quite tall. They stood in a neat line, facing us, and bowed.

I looked at Barraclough, as did the rest of Hogwarts. He winked. Taking that as a signal, we bowed in return.

'Is that Beauxbatons, then?' said a first-year to my left. I recognised him; he was Matthew Allen, the boy who had swaggered to the Gryffindor table. He was pointing at the sky.

There was a dot in the distance, growing bigger every second. As it came nearer, it became obvious that it was a carriage being pulled by several winged horses. It landed next to the Durmstrang ship.

'Woah, those horses are massive!' said another first year.

The carriage door opened, and out of it stepped an enormous woman. She looked around twice the size of a normal person.

'I wonder if she's bigger than Hagrid or not,' said Yasmin.

Albus caught my eye, and I grinned. I was sure he was remembering the time when Uncle Harry told us stories about Hagrid and the head teacher of Beauxbatons at Christmas a few years ago too.

'Long time no see, Madame Maxime,' said Barraclough.

Madame Maxime nodded, and extended a hand to him. After she had shaken hands with both headmasters, she let out a shrill whistle.

The students of Beauxbatons filed out of the carriage and stood in a line parallel to Durmstrang, and bowed. Hogwarts and Durmstrang bowed back.

'Well, now that you are all here,' said Barraclough, 'I think we should go in and enjoy the feast!'

We all went back into the Great Hall and sat down. Most of Beauxbatons sat at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, while Durmstrang sat at the Gryffindor and Slytherin ones.

I was absent-mindedly looking over at the Slytherin table while I was eating, when I accidentally made eye contact with Josh. He smiled at me, so I had no choice but to return one. He was sitting with a few Durmstrang students.

The platinum-blond-haired boy next to him looked up and saw me looking at Josh. He waved at me.

My mouth opened in surprise ― it was the boy from Flourish and Blotts!

I grinned widely and waved back. _I can't believe he remembers me!_ I thought.

Josh looked back and forth between me and the boy, confused at our interaction. I decided that now would be a good time to strike up a conversation with Albus and Lorcan about the fact that there were several foreign dishes at the table.

After the feast, Barraclough stood up. 'Now that you are all fed, it is time to talk about the Triwizard Tournament.'

Filch hobbled to Barraclough with an ancient-looking jewel-encrusted wooden casket in his arms.

Barraclough tapped the lid of the casket three times with his wand, and it opened. He then took out a blue-flame-filled wooden cup from inside it. He then closed the lid and set the cup on top of the casket. 'This is the Goblet of Fire.

'Those who wish to take part in the tournament should write their full name and school on a piece of parchment and throw it into the goblet. At dinner tomorrow, the Goblet of Fire will give us the names of our three champions who have been selected to represent their schools.

'I will draw an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire after it is moved to the Entrance Hall. Those who are under sixteen will not be able to pass.

'I will remind you now that even though the age restriction has been lowered, the tasks in this tournament are still dangerous and are not for the faint-hearted. Good night.'

I left the Great Hall with Yasmin, Albus and Lorcan to go to the common room. When we got there, we sat down on our usual couch near the fire.

'So are you guys putting your names forward?' asked Yasmin.

'Yeah,' said Albus. 'Why not?'

'So you don't think your parents would mind?' I asked.

'No, of course not. Why, are you thinking of what your mum would say?'

'She probably wouldn't mind, but she'd tell me to be careful. Well, it doesn't really matter; it's not like I'm going to put my name forward or anything.'

'Why not?' Yasmin and Lorcan asked.

'There's no point,' I said. 'Why would _I_ get picked to represent the school?'

'So?' said Yasmin. 'I obviously won't get picked―'

'Because you're an idiot,' Albus interrupted.

'― But I'm still putting my name forward. I mean, why not?'

Lorcan yawned.

'We should go to bed,' said Yasmin. 'Hogsmeade tomorrow, remember.'

'G'night,' I mumbled to the boys, and then followed Yasmin up the stairs to the dormitory.

* * *

><p>Ugh, this chapter is really bad.. I'm sorry .<p>

**Diane Potter:** Josh was introduced in chapter one. He's a popular Slytherin in Rose's year. I hope this helped :)

Thank you for the reviews! ^^


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

After getting ready, I went down to the Great Hall with Yasmin. It seemed fuller with the addition of the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

'What are we even going to do?' I complained to Yasmin.

'What do you mean?'

'We've been to Hogsmeade so much. It's not as if there's anything new.'

'I want sweets,' Yasmin said with an innocent smile.

'After Honeydukes, and maybe Zonko's and the Three Broomsticks, can we just come back?'

'Come back and do what?' she asked with a hint of annoyance.

I shrugged.

'You want to make the most of the school while everyone's out?'

'I suppose,' I said, but then frowned; Yasmin was grinning mischievously. 'Wait,' I said quickly. 'What do you mean?'

'Ok, we can come back early, put our names in the Goblet when no one is watching so you won't be embarrassed, and then go relax by the lake.

I groaned.

.

'Shall we get some Fizzing Whizbees?

'Huh? What are they?' Yasmin asked.

'They're these sweets that were popular around twenty-five years ago,' I told her.

'Twenty-five years?' she asked incredulously.

I nodded.

'Ew. That's disgusting.'

I rolled my eyes at her stupidity.

'Hey, I have enough sweets now. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks,' Yasmin said, pushing me out of the shop.

I followed her along the High street to the Three Broomsticks. It was very crowded, but we still saw Albus, Lorcan and Lysander waving at us from a table with a couple of spare chairs near the window.

We walked up to the counter.

'Would you like anything?' the barmaid, Cassie, asked. She tucked a long strand of curly black hair behind her ear and smiled.

'Can we have two Butterbeers please?' said Yasmin.

'Each?' Cassie asked. One of her eyebrows was cocked slightly, and there was a small smirk playing on her lips.

'No - I ―' Yasmin stuttered.

'I know, I know,' Cassie said, grinning and waving her hand dismissively. 'I was just messing with you.'

I frowned, trying to understand her sense of humour, as she went to get the drinks.

Yasmin looked around the crowded room. After a few moments, she sighed.

'Jordan not here?' I asked quietly, suppressing a laugh.

She glared at me, pressing an index finger against her lips.

I let the laugh escape. 'No one's going to hear me in here anyway,' I said loudly.

She scowled and turned away.

'Here you go,' said Cassie, pushing the drinks across the counter towards us.

We paid and carried our drinks to the table.

I sat back and sipped on my Butterbeer, not bothering to join into the conversation. After about ten minutes, I stood up. 'I'm going back,' I told Yasmin. 'Are you coming?'

She looked as though she was about to refuse, but then changed her mind and stood up as well.

We walked out of the Three Broomsticks and walked along the high street back towards Hogwarts. I smiled widely for no particular reason. I was just... happy.

'What are you doing back so early?' Filch snarled at us as we walked through the gates, eyeing us suspiciously.

'Nothing,' we both replied quickly.

He grunted, and then hobbled back towards the castle doors.

We allowed him a minute so we wouldn't have to run into him again, and then walked back into the castle too.

The Entrance Hall was empty apart from the Goblet in the middle of it and a small table next to it with a stack of parchment, a handful of quills and an ink bottle on top.

'There isn't really any point in this,' I said in a last hopeless attempt to change her mind. 'You know that, right?'

'Fine then, don't do it. I'm not going to force you,' she said, much to my surprise. She didn't say it sarcastically either; she seemed sincere. She then scribbled her name and school on a piece of parchment and threw it into the blue flames. 'Ok, let's go.' She began to walk back to the main doors.

I stood where I was, gaping at her.

When she realised that I wasn't walking behind her, she stopped and gave me a funny look. 'What's wrong?'

'You spend too much time with Lorcan and his mood swings,' I stated.

She chuckled.

I continued standing where I was for another moment, before reaching a decision. I wrote 'Rose Weasley, Hogwarts' on a piece of parchment in my neatest handwriting and threw it in. I watched as the flames licked the parchment, and then proceeded to swallow it.

'Why did you do that? I thought you really didn't want to do it.'

I shrugged.

'It can't hurt to just put my name forward though, can it?'

'I suppose...'

Inside, I was uneasy, but I dismissed the feeling, and followed Yasmin outside into the bright sunlight.

After a few hours of lying in the sun, Yasmin left to go to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, however, I felt her shadow fall on top of me.

'That was quick.'

I heard laughter, and it didn't really sound like Yasmin. _Is it Josh again?_

I opened one eye and saw the platinum-haired boy looking down at me with raised eyebrows.

'Oh – I – I thought―' I stuttered, sitting up quickly.

'Yeah, whatever,' he said, and sat down next to me.

It was quiet for a while after that. I racked my brain, trying to find something to say. I thought about last evening. 'You know Josh, then?' I asked him.

'Yeah, I've known him since I was a little kid.'

It was silent for a few more moments again.

'So... what was your name again?' I asked, realising that I didn't actually know what he was called.

'"_Again?_" What do you mean by "again"? You never knew it in the first place.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Whatever.'

'It's Malfoy. Scorpius Malfoy.'

_What?_

I twisted my head around so quickly that it hurt slightly. I then examined his face with narrowed eyes.

_It can't be..._

But now that I was looking at his face properly, I could see a few of the facial features of the only person that I had genuinely hated since starting Hogwarts six years ago; the pointed chin, the cold grey eyes, the permanently cocked eyebrow...

_Ugh._ I screwed my eyes closed tightly and turned back away in disgust.

'What?' he asked loudly. He then went on to poke me repeatedly when I didn't respond.

After a while, it grew annoying, so I opened my eyes and looked him in his. 'Good to see you again, Malfoy. My name is Weasley. Rose Weasley.' I snorted as his jaw dropped.

'No way.' His eyes raked my face. 'Wow... well done, Weasley. I know it's hard to believe, but you seem to have become even uglier. How is that even possible? You were hideous in second year. Puberty doesn't seem to have done you any good, eh?'

I couldn't help but let out a laugh; he hadn't changed at all. 'I would insult you back, but I know that it'll just bounce off that big head of yours and not get to where it needs to.'

He smirked. 'You know me well, Weasley.'

'Unfortunately.'

He opened his mouth to say something else, but knowing that I probably wouldn't like it once I heard it, I stood up and began to walk away. Not quickly enough to miss him say, 'Or maybe you just aren't as talented as me in the field of insults, hmm?' though.

.

I ran into Yasmin on the way back up to Gryffindor Tower. Though she questioned me the entire journey there, I only told her about my encounter with Malfoy once we had reached the deserted common room.

'He's the creep from Flourish and Blotts, isn't he?'

I nodded.

'I told you he looked familiar!'

I sighed. 'I can't believe I completely forgot that he was at Durmstrang.'

'He'll probably be on their Quidditch team too.'

I groaned. 'Let's just hope he isn't in too many of our classes.'

We spent the rest of the day hanging around in the common room whilst enjoying the sweets we had bought earlier. At around five, the common room became busy again.

When Albus and Lorcan returned, we tried to ask them how their day went, but they simply gestured for us to wait at the foot of the staircase to the boys' dormitory, then ran up to drop their bags of sweets off. Only when they came back down again, hands empty, did they begin talking.

'I'm hungry.'

'Same. Let's go down.'

We sighed, but followed them out of the portrait hole nonetheless.

The Great Hall had been decorated specially, and there was a feast again. Two other people with fancy robes were sitting at the staff table. They had introduced themselves before the feast had begun, but I couldn't hear them over Albus and Lorcan sniggering at something or other.

The feast seemed to drag on immensely. I kept fiddling with my watch for a lack of anything better to do whilst waiting for the time to pass. My friends didn't seem to be too bothered; they just ate and chatted merrily about the day that they had just spent.

Finally, once the morsel of food had disappeared, Professor Barraclough stood up.

'I believe that it is almost time for the Goblet to make its decision,' he said in his squeaky voice.

On cue, the Goblet's flames turned a bright red. They rose higher, emitting sparks. A blackened piece of parchment flew out with them, which Barraclough caught in his small hand. The flames then returned to their original colour.

He smoothed it out and brought it up to eye-level. 'The champion for Beauxbatons,' he said loudly, 'is Daniel Laurent.'

The Hall broke into polite applause for the burly boy. Barraclough guided him across the Hall, towards a door behind the staff table. 'Through there, my dear boy. You will receive your first instructions once the other two champions have been chosen.'

Barraclough walked back to the Goblet. The flames were red once again. He grasped the parchment that flew out of them.

'The champion for Durmstrang is Erik Tomasson.'

I searched the Slytherin table for Malfoy just to see his disappointed face, but when I spotted him sitting with Josh and a few of his Durmstrang friends, he was applauding along with everybody else. He seemed uninterested, as though he had better things to be doing with his time.

Tomasson strode through the tables, past the staff table and went through the door behind it.

'And now,' said Barraclough, 'it is time for the Hogwarts champion to be chosen.'

'Who do you think it'll be?' Yasmin whispered.

'I'd laugh if it was you,' I replied.

She shot me a glare.

The flames became red for the last time that night. Once again, Barraclough neatly caught the parchment.

'The champion for Hogwarts,' he said, 'is Rose Weasley.'

* * *

><p>Woah, it's been a while. I've been really busy with school and that :

Ugh, I'm sorry. The ending was really obvious :(

On a better note, however, asdfghjkl I'm so happy! :) My beautiful sister-in-law bought me the Harry Potter box set (hardback & signature edition) ! And now I won't have to resort to the school library or wiki to do research for this fic! yay asdfsjkgsd I love you :D

_Books.. books.. *drool* .._

I apologise for my strangeness ^^


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang applauded respectfully. The students of Hogwarts, on the other hand, began whispering. I tried to ignore it ― it wasn't as though I could make out what they were saying anyway ― and placed my hands on the bench on either side of me to help push me to my feet, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Students were craning their necks, looking at me and waiting for me to get up and walk.

'Go on,' Yasmin breathed in my ear.

I pushed myself once again. Though my arms were shaking, I managed to stand up. I felt my face grow hot when I realised that everyone was looking at me. I lowered my head and walked through the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, taking great care to not step on the hem of my robes and stumble.

I didn't understand why I didn't receive as much applause as the other two. No one in my school hated me, as far as I knew, so why were they still all whispering to one another?

I finally made it to the staff table where Professor Barraclough was standing. He showed me towards the door I was supposed to go through, and I walked through it.

There was much less light in the smaller room. I noticed Daniel Laurent and Erik Tomasson in the shadows at the other end, so I went over and joined them. Immediately, I noticed the awkward atmosphere around the two. They were both leaning against the wall, looking anywhere but at each other.

'Hi,' I said, breaking the silence. My voice was hoarse, so I cleared my throat and repeated myself.

They both glanced at me, and then turned away again.

_Well, that was rude._

Just then, I heard voices nearing the entrance to the room, saving me from trying to make conversation again. Barraclough strode into the room, followed by Professor Bedloe, Madam Maxime, Borg and the two other men who had joined the staff table earlier.

'So, we have our champions,' Barraclough said, looking into each of our faces and smiling kindly. 'I think I'll step aside now and allow the organisers of the Triwizard Tournament do the talking.'

The two other men straightened their robes and stood up straighter. They both looked around the same age as my parents. One of them had dark hair and was wearing emerald green robes. The other was wearing expensive-looking gold ones.

'I'm Blaise Zabini,' said the man in green, 'Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

The man in gold cleared his throat loudly and flashed grin, raising an eyebrow. 'And I'm Cormac McLaggen, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.'

I frowned at Mr McLaggen, glad that he wasn't my age. He had an oily voice and he spoke very slowly, which was incredibly infuriating, and his eyebrows wouldn't stay put. I would have probably slapped him or something if he had been in any of my classes; there was just something about him that screamed "annoying idiot".

'The first task will take place on Saturday the 17th of November,' said Mr Zabini. 'The time will be sorted out nearer to the date.'

Mr Zabini paused and looked at Mr McLaggen, as though silently asking him if he was going to say something too. After a few seconds of silence, Mr Zabini gave up and continued himself.

'You will be competing in front of the five judges and the other students. The panel of judges is made up of Professors Barraclough, Borg and Maxime, Mr McLaggen and I.

'You are not allowed to cheat in order to find out who or what you will be competing against. You are not allowed to ask anyone for or accept help with any of the Triwizard Tasks. You are not allowed to take anything to the task with you apart from your wands.

'After completing the task, the judges will each give you a score out of ten, which will be added up and become your score out of fifty, depending on how well you performed. A high score will be of assistance to you when it is time for the second task―'

'But you'll receive more information about that once you've finished the first one,' said Mr McLaggen in an unctuous voice. 'Best not muddle their minds up now, eh, Mr Zabini?'

Mr Zabini scowled at McLaggen, and then gave the smallest of nods. 'That is all,' he said quietly, turning back to face us. 'I would advise you to listen well and work hard in class as you don't know what you might be up against in the task.'

'You'll also be interviewed and have your photos taken for the _Daily Prophet_ on Tuesday after lunch, so you get to skip your afternoon lessons,' McLaggen said in his slow, smarmy voice. 'Mr Zabini here seems to have forgotten about that.'

'I hadn't forgotten, actually,' Mr Zabini said, trying his best to smile at McLaggen, but it ended up looking like a grimace. 'I simply didn't add that detail as I was wondering if you were ever going to open your mouth and save me from speaking all by myself.'

McLaggen nodded with raised eyebrows. 'Of course... of course...' he murmured.

I let out a loud sigh to remind the judges that the other champions and I were still here.

'You now know all that you need to,' Professor Borg said. 'Good night.'

The other professors nodded in dismissal.

Daniel Laurent and Erik Tomasson left the room and I followed.

'Well, uh, good night,' I said to them once we were back in the Great Hall, which was now empty.

They both nodded in reply, which was definitely an improvement to how they had acted in the smaller room.

I turned and walked towards the marble staircase, allowing my mind to wander, knowing that my feet would take me to the tower without me having to pay much attention to where I was going.

_Why was _I_ chosen? Me? Of all people, why me?_

I then reasoned with myself. _Well I suppose it is my own fault. I didn't have to put my name in. I can't blame Yasmin now._

'The champion has arrived!' said a voice, interrupting the voice in my head.

'Oh, hi,' I said timidly.

'I'm proud of you, Miss Weasley,' the Fat Lady said kindly. 'A Gryffindor will be representing the school! Oh, I'm really excited!'

I wondered whether I was supposed to thank her or not. In the end, I decided against it. 'Mandrake.'

The portrait swung open. I walked into the common room. Once everyone saw who it was that had entered it, they cheered. I finally smiled genuinely.

'Hey, Rose!' my friend shouted from our usual sofa.

I walked through my fellow Gryffindors, thanking them as they congratulated me for being chosen.

'Ginger!' Lorcan exclaimed.

I threw my arms around him and we ruffled each other's hair.

'I thought you said you weren't going to go for it,' Albus said once I had let go of Lorcan.

'Why do you think we came back to the castle early today?' I asked him while I hugged him too.

'Why didn't you tell us?' Lorcan rounded on Yasmin.

She shrugged. 'Congrats, dumbass,' she said to me with a smirk.

'Aw thanks,' I replied, and I messed her hair up instead of hugging her.

I stayed in the common room with my friends for about a quarter of an hour. I told them what I had been told in the smaller room, and we then went on to discuss the first task and what I might have to do in it.

'I'm tired,' I said mid-yawn. 'Yasmin, come with me.'

She looked as though she was about to refuse my offer, but I gave her a pleading look with my eyes, so she sighed and followed me up the staircase and into our empty dormitory. I dragged her to my bed, and made her sit on it.

'We need to talk,' I murmured, drawing the curtains around my bed.

'You don't need to talk so quietly; we're the only people in here,' she said.

'Ok, whatever.'

I pause for a few seconds, trying to work out how to phrase my next sentence.

'You know in the Great Hall, after my name was called out? Why... I don't want to sound like an idiot or anything, but... why did hardly anyone clap for me? Why were they all whispering? I don't get it.'

Yasmin bit her lip.

'I mean, it's not like I'm one of those people who get picked for everything, right?' I went on. 'I would understand if they were annoyed if I was someone who was really popular or had everything or something, and that they thought it was unfair for me to be chosen, but... I just... I don't get it.' I mumbled the last part.

'Promise you won't get angry at me if I tell you?'

'Why would I? I'm asking you to tell me.'

'Well... it's just that...' she said. 'You know how people are always complaining that the Weasleys and Potters practically rule the school because there are so many of you and loads of you play Quidditch and do well in exams and are good-looking, yeah? Well, I think it's because of that. They were probably hoping that the Hogwarts champion wouldn't be a Weasley or a Potter.'

I took a few moments to fully digest what she was saying.

'But if it was James or Fred or Albus or someone, then yeah, I'd get why they would be annoyed. But even they wouldn't deserve all that whispering and those dirty looks. I'm one of the least known Weasleys, so why do they all hate me so much?'

'They don't hate you,' Yasmin said softly. 'I think they treated you worse than they would have treated the others because... they kind of forgot about you.'

'That - that doesn't really make sense,' I said matter-of-factly.

'Ok, I should explain it better. Ok. Imagine you go to Hogwarts―'

'I do though,' I interrupted.

'Shut up. I'm trying to explain this to you because I'm nice. I don't really have to, you know.'

'Ok, I'm sorry.'

'Imagine you go to Hogwarts,' she started again. 'Every year, you try to get on to the Quidditch team, but every year, you're rejected because some new Weasley who just started school a year ago is better than you. All your friends talk about the Weasleys, and how they wish they had a family as cool as that. You have to admit ― they _are_ quite awesome; they're funny, they're popular, they're good-looking, and they're actually kind of nice. It just slightly annoys you that they're so well-known, and that everyone loves them so much.

'When you start school this year, you find out that there's going to be some tournament, and the winner gets a thousand Galleons and eternal glory. This is it. This is your chance to shine. This is what you've been waiting for. You think you actually have a chance of being chosen to represent the school and beat the Weasleys for once.

'You're dismayed however, to find out that you've lost to a Weasley. But to make things worse, it's one that you don't know much about; one that you hadn't been expecting to even put their name forward. All you know is that she's the new addition of the Weasley family to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You reckon that should be enough for her. But out of all of the people of Hogwarts, you were beaten by _her_. Someone you were sure was beneath you. If _she_ had beaten her cousins, you were sure that you would be capable of doing so too. If it wasn't for her, you would have been the Hogwarts champion.'

I brushed the tear that had landed on my cheek away. I didn't know why I was crying; this wasn't really something worth crying about. Maybe it was just because I was relieved to finally understand why the rest of the school disliked me now, or maybe it was because I had never seen Yasmin talk about something even remotely deep before.

'Oh,' I croaked. That was all that I managed to say. My voice was thick from the tears that were now freely streaming down my face.

Yasmin put her arm around me and we sat like that for a good few minutes until we heard voices. I looked at the mirror on my bedside table and, to my relief, found that it wasn't too obvious that I had been crying.

'It's ok,' Yasmin said. 'You're probably just stressed or something and you needed to vent. Crying doesn't make you weak. It shows that you're human.'

I nodded.

'Thanks Yasmin. You're the best. But... you're not angry at me as well, are you?'

She didn't say anything for a few seconds.

_Oh, no. Please, say no._ I sat frozen, unable to move or say anything. What if my best friend was against me as well? I really needed her by my side right now. I really need her by my side all the time. What if she was explaining how she felt when she was talking from the point of another student of Hogwarts? That would explain why it was so detailed. _Please, no..._

'No, of course not,' she said quietly.

Unsure whether I should believe her or not, I remained silent.

'Rose, you're my best friend. So shut the hell up and sleep.'

I felt as though I had been relieved of a large weight from inside of me.

She smiled at me before pulling the curtains open and making her way to her own bed, just as the door opened.

'Hey,' I said to Anita, Jess and Melissa, who had just walked in.

'Why is it so dark in here?' asked Anita. 'Were you actually sleeping?'

I shrugged. 'I'm tired.'

'Oh. Well, congratulations anyway.'

'Thanks,' I murmured.

'Good night.'

* * *

><p>Sorry, Scorpius isn't in this chapter :(<p>

I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway, though ^^


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